A Past Forgotten
by Firestorm
Summary: AU: After losing the only son he ever had, the emperor of an ancient realm, will discover two unknown evils have come to his empire. But for what reason? Two teams of warriors shall be sent to help him out. But can they succeed against the evils as well a
1. Default Chapter

Okay, this fic is set in au, based on a rp, I've had with my friend Cleo. Though some of what some may read, if this is read at all, parts will be different from the actual rp itself. To do this disclaimer: Any Ronin Warrior or other anime character you see here, belongs to neither Cleo or I. Cleo's characters consist of the emperor, empress, princesses, among them Clea, Cleo Deathstorme, Keisu, Xia, Kamalus, Shen, Okashi, Sawa, Yina, Tsie, the priestess, Shyra, and the other demon counterparts she owns, as well as a few more characters I can't remember right now. My characters are the Warriors, Tutock and his Guardians, Akinori, Jadis, and quite a few others I can't even remember at the moment.. Pathetic to forget the names, I know.. -.-; )

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 1.

In a distant realm about 500 light years from Earth, another realm was bustling with activity. The realm was comparable to that of Earth itself, but it was all different as well. For one this realm, though also called Earth, supported only one race of people, and many mystical creatures. To the other realms that knew of it, it came to be called the Asian Realm, and the fact of that could be said to be true. For when one landed on it, they would see that the realm looked exactly like the structures of the Asian cities on the other Earth, only more ancient to be precise. The buildings were made of the finest wood and were laid out in rectangular flats that often either circled around ponds or even small parks. These buildings were always one floor, but could be fifty feet in diameter and that was just speaking of one part of a building. 

Many families lived together in these buildings, which always consisted of a set of grandparents, the father, the mother, an aunt and uncle, a few cousins, and the children themselves. Sometimes though a few houses would indeed support just a father, mother, and a few children. 

The people were hard workers, always rising up with the sun, eating a quick breakfast, before heading off to work in the market, or in the fields, or on the waters. Mothers often stayed home to tend to the younger children, while older children either went to help out with the chores, or went to school. 

Though most of the time it was peaceful, often it became unstable. Time after time, hordes of bandits would plunge through the towns and villages, raiding the poor people, killing the innocents, and plundering their goods. Guards from the emperor of the land would be sent after these notorious criminals. Even though a hundred of them had been caught, there were still possibly hundreds more in hiding.

However, even though life went the same as usual for the subjects of the realm, there was much activity going on at the Palace. The palace stood directly in the north center of the realm. The entire structure was about twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide in length. The ceilings were about fifty feet high up, and each room was decorated with splendor. 

Though the interior design of the palace did not fascinate the people who lived within the walls. No, something that was taking place this very night at the stroke close to the midnight hour when all other villagers were asleep in beds was enough to make the emperor pace back and forth in a hallway, just outside a closed door.

"Sire, you must calm yourself!" Shen, one of the emperor's greatest advisors told him. The elderly man's features were full of concern for the young emperor who was at the time only twenty six years of age. He had seen the emperor pace before, but never like this. 

"I cannot, Shen," the emperor replied in a grave voice. Though he did stop and took a moment to look at the closed door. "Today is the day I find out what the child will be. For nine long months I have waited. I have fourteen daughters, the youngest being Clea, and still no son. I've had prayed many times for one, and still my plea was ignored. If I do not receive a son, then Kamalus shall become my heir." 

Shen nodded mutely, and watched as his young sire resumed his pacing. Waiting seemed like an eternity. He looked out the window toward the moon and saw it was close to midnight now. He looked away and watched the door in silence. From time to time someone would come up to them to see if there was any news, but seeing the pacing continuing on still, their question was already answered. 

Then directly at midnight, everyone outside the door heard the wail of a baby's cry. The emperor immediately stopped his rate of knots and turned to the door expectantly. However, the wait was longer than he would have liked. He banged on the door. "What is going on in there?" he demanded. 

"Our apologies, sire," a female voice replied from within. "There are complications."

"What do you mean?!" Now he was worried. Had the birth been too much for his poor wife, the love of his life? Was the child all right? These thoughts plagued his mind with much fear. His mind seemed to freeze on the aspect of losing a child or even his wife, and for one moment he forgot to breathe.

A new voice came, though it sounded pained as if the speaker had been through hell just now. "Everything will be all right, your majesty," the male voice of the physician Chou said from behind the doors. "We're cleaning the infant now."

"What is it?" the emperor asked eagerly. However there was again silence that seemed to infuriate him. But then finally the door opened and a young handmaiden guided the young emperor into the room and toward his wife as she lay on her bed, looking quite exhausted but happy. He greeted her with a kiss and wiped her forehead of sweat. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Tired," she answered softly with a small smile. "This one took a lot out of me. A day's rest and I shall be fine."

He nodded his head and turned to regard the physician who stood before him with a bundle wrapped in his arms. The physician handed the bundle to him with a smile. "Your majesty, I present you with a son."

Tears ran down the emperor's cheeks as he stared down at the sleeping bundle within his arms. Never before had he cried for any reason, but this one time. Being stubborn as he was though, he fought them off. Curiosity got the better of him and he unwrapped the bundle. His reaction wasn't what he planned on. For the child had blond hair and his left eye was concealed behind a patch. 

He immediately looked at the physician with questioning eyebrows. "What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded angrily.

"Sire, the child's left eye has a problem with it," the physician replied as calmly as he could. There was no need to lie to him, it would only infuriate him more. "The left eye is too bright to behold. When I first looked at his face, I was blinded for a few moments. The pain was so severe that I thought I would be blinded forever."

"And the blond hair?" the emperor demanded.

The physician wasn't sure on how to answer that. All Asians born in the realm had black hair, with the exception of two people now. A daughter of the emperor by the name of Clea, and now his son. As it was with Clea, this he could not explain either. 

Shen dared to enter the room however. His gaze turned right to the emperor and the infant that lay in his arms. "Sire, I believe I can answer your question."

"Then do so quickly," the emperor commanded as he gave Shen his full attention.

"For years I have studied the Ancient Scrolls, scrolls that were said to be written by the gods themselves. These prophecies consisted to tell of how a young male child shall be born. It states in this way: On the night of a full moon in the eight month on the nineteenth day, a pale child with hair like the sun shall be born. His power shall be great and his wisdom grand. He shall rise to become a great warrior and protect the people of his land."

The emperor stared at him in disbelief as he raised one skeptical eyebrow. "And you believe this child to be that of the prophecy?"

Shen nodded his head. "Yes, your majesty, as a matter of fact I do."

Silence reigned in the room as no one could speak. They all knew that Shen spoke often of the Prophecies and never before had he ever been wrong on any. They had all come to pass as he had said, and with this new prophecy came the question: was this child it?

"If what you say is true," the emperor said at last, "then we shall find out in time, won't we? In the meantime, this child, my son will now become my heir. We shall raise him according to the customs of the land and prepare him for the world and affairs of men. His name shall be Sun Tai."

The next few weeks at the palace had everyone busy, especially the rulers. The emperor found he got little sleep anymore, because his son would awaken at undesirable times either to demand to be changed, fed, or held for comfort. It seemed often according to another advisor that the newborn suffered from nightmares, and no amount of charms or spells seem to cast these away. And like with all babies, this child was no different. He often smiled and cooed when he learned how to, slept a lot when he could, and kept his parents awake during the night hours. Often, when the emperor and empress were so tired, a handmaiden would watch their son for them just so they could get some sleep.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The child was now eight months old and more blond hair was beginning to grow. At times someone would gently scold him whenever he'd tried to remove his patch, and then distract him with something else, like a small toy of some kind. 

Everyone also had to be extremely cautious. For the child like to crawl just about everywhere, and since he was so small, he wasn't often seen right away. Case in point when the general of the guard, Kamalus who was around seven feet or so, nearly stepped on him. Had it not been for Sawa, Clea's cat, screeching up at Kamalus the baby would have surely been squashed under his foot.

And of course it also brought fear. For often the child would crawl away and hide somewhere, causing the emperor to send out search parties throughout the entire palace and even outside the palace. Now that he had a son, he trusted not many people. He knew of enemies that would love to spare him the blessing of having an heir, and the child would have been more easier to kill than Kamalus would be. However it was often Sawa or Yina another cat who lived in the palace, that would often find the child, curled up on a basket of fresh clean linen and other clothes.

By the time he was twelve months, he began to learn to walk. And walking wasn't an easy task. For many times he would fall directly onto his butt. Though he seemed to resemble his father in one accord, for he was very stubborn and would keep trying until he got too impatient and wailed unhappily.

As it was though, Sawa, now often in a tiger form, since the child had been growing so much lately, would come to his rescue. He was the one who helped Sun Tai to learn to walk, with the exception of his parents. And in a few months time, the child was soon running down the hall.

Along with walking and running came the ability to speak now. And the child was quite easily understood. To say he was a genius was putting it too strongly. He was not a genius, but seemed to be very smart at learning certain things.

One day he was running from several handmaidens, taunting them and teasing them as their cries seemed to fall on death ears. "Can't catch me!" he sang to them.

"Child, please stop!" one of them seemed to beg him. "You must take your bath!"

"No bath, no!" he replied, running as fast as his little legs could carry him, which was pretty fast since the women could not keep up with him.

A hand suddenly reached down and picked him up by the back of his kimono and set of familiar brown eyes bore deep into his right light blue eye. "No running," his father said sternly and set him down with a firm hand upon his shoulder.

The child sniffled, but did not cry. He was given to the highest handmaiden and was led away to be given a bath for the night.

Later that evening, the empress had changed the child, fed him and sat in her rocking chair, singing softly to him. The young child gazed up at her with a contended smile. It was as if the child was sarcastically refusing to fall asleep for her. But her beautiful voice continued to reach his ears.

"Touch the moon on an enchanted river, sing a song to the wind. Hear a voice call your name. Listen well and see here now, for you are a child of mine. Speak your mind, feel with your heart. There's nothing that can ever keep us apart. I shall always be right by your side. For you are a child of mine."

Sun Tai let out a yawn and closed his eyes. He tucked his chin down against his chest and his breathing became steady. The empress smiled down at him, gently kissed his forehead, and rose up from her chair. She walked over to the crib and laid him inside it, covering him up.

The door opened and she turned her head to see her husband standing in the doorway. "Is he asleep?" he asked as quietly as he could.

She nodded with a smile, then turned her head to look back at their son as he joined her side. "Look at him, dear. He's gotten so big."

The emperor smiled as he gazed down at him. "Yes, he has. I've already had Chun Chun prepare herself into making new clothes for him. He's outgrown several already."

The two of them left the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar as Sawa in his cat form walked into the room. Sawa looked around, then walked over to the crib. He jumped on the edge of it and checked on the infant. Satisfied, he jumped down to the floor and lay under the crib. A quick yawn had him curled up and fast asleep.

Sawa wasn't always a cat at one point. He had been human, living just like any other. Living on the very same realm, though in a different region most had never heard of before. He had toiled hard, working from sunup to sundown, always keeping an eye out for the people he worked for and protecting their young children. 

However one day, the entire family had been attacked. Sawa, in his warrior like state, had charged the monster, a huge bat like creature with a voice like a banshee. The battle had been furious, and Sawa had nearly lost his arms. However, as he fought, he had been aware of a majestic looking beast approaching him. This beast was a black tiger with silver stripes. Sawa had been worried he would not be able to hold both bat and the tiger off, but to his amazement, the tiger had leapt into his body.

At once Sawa's eyes turned gold and his back arched. He let out a hiss, and there was a flash of light, which blocked out even the sun itself. When the light had faded Sawa was no longer a human being. For the tiger that had settled itself down in him had given Sawa the ability to transport into a large tiger.

Sawa had easily defeated the bat creature, but he had found out the family he had sworn to protect were half dead, the rest who were alive had betrayed him. Saddened by this, Sawa could not revert back to human form. Instead, he had become an ordinary housecat and wandered his way into Princess Clea's care where he had lived for two years now.

And now since being adopted by her, he had sworn he would not fail this family. He would get back his honor at being a marvelous protector, and maybe someday, he would find the courage to become human once again. 

Morning came all too quickly for some of the servants inside the palace. Activity never ceased inside these walls, and all too soon, after breakfast was over, the emperor had to leave for an important business trip. 

Just as he was about to leave through the door with several guards, he felt something tugging on his kimono ends and turned his head and saw his youngest child staring up with him with one sad eye. "Dada, no go!"

The emperor frowned a little and pulled his son's hands off him. "Son, I must. One day you will understand why."

"NO!" the child yelled, staring up at him still as he clung onto him again. Sighing despondently, the emperor picked the child up and handed him to a handmaiden who was standing in the hall by chance. Then he turned and left with the six guards without another word.

Sun Tai screamed and struggled to get down, to run after his father. His cries of 'dada!' echoed throughout the palace halls. The handmaiden did her best to calm him down, but it was a good half hour before his little body relaxed and laid against her with his chin on her shoulder in silence.

"How is he, Leiu?" another handmaiden asked her.

Leiu was rubbing his back as she replied. "He's finally quieted down. The poor child. He loves his father so much."

"And when will his majesty return?"

"By tomorrow morning."

Sun Tai lifted his head, his one eye blotched red from the tears. "Hungy," he whimpered.

(Yes, it's spelled the way I want it. His grammar isn't perfect yet. I do know how to spell hungry. Lol) 

Leiu smiled softly at him. "Alright, young one. I shall take you to your mother." She left down the hall, heading for the room where she knew the empress would be.

The next morning the emperor had returned. His wife had welcomed him back, and then his daughters, three year old Clea who didn't demand much attention, and one year old Sun Tai who did demand attention. During the next several months, they would all learn just how mischievous the youngest would be.

For he often ran from the guards, taunting and teasing them, took his eldest sister's shoes and threw them in the pond. Threw his clothes all over the place, and deliberately caused a guard to trip over him. Once he had even stolen Kamalus's calligraphy brushes and had scribbled all over the palace walls with them. The emperor had been furious, and Sun Tai had gone to bed early for the night.

And such a night was the emperor pacing. "I just don't understand it. None of our other children behaved in such a manner!" he raged on inside the room where he and his wife were at the time being. 

She was watching him sympathetically from the bed. They all had it rough during the last couple of months, and the last four days since their son had turned two. They had did their best in scolding him, to teach him right from wrong, but the boy seemed to have a stubborn streak to him. It was as if the teachings went through one ear and out the other.

"Dear, try and calm yourself," the empress said in her gentle voice. "It's been very trying for us all. Be patient with him and with yourself. He will learn. He is still quite young yet, and if I recall from my own younger brothers, all boys are more difficult than girls."

"Heh," he snorted. "Well, I have learned one thing."

"And what is that, dear?"

"That I wish to have no more sons. One is enough!"

That night their lives were to change dramatically. They say it only takes just one second to shatter a life, and well, this night would be like no other. As they all slept, a large figure had somehow broken through the barriers of the palace. It walked quietly down the halls, taking out guards quickly and leaving them for dead where they had once stood guarding.

The figure had checked the rooms, and not finding the one it sought, would leave quickly. Then it reached Sun Tai's room. Pulling the door open, the figure walked toward the crib.

Immediately, Sawa, in his cat form, snapped his eyes open and beheld the stranger. Instantly he realized the danger. Leaping to his feet, he attacked the large man, hissing and scratching. The man growled in anger and flung the cat off him.

He turned to the infant and lifted the sleeping child. A sneer came to his face. "So, this is the child that shall become mighty, and will help save the world from my grasp. I think not."

Sawa bounced off the wall and attacked again. But once again he was thrown against that same wall. The man turned and chanted a spell. "Doku amori amena!" A swirling black cloud appeared inside the infant's room and gradually grew bigger until it was large enough for him to disappear through it. 

Sawa looked up in shock. He couldn't let this monster leave with the only heir. He had to stop him! He chased after them, entering into that black cloud. When he found out where he was anger turned to shock and disbelief. Somehow they had been brought to the realm which was indeed called Earth. 

The man stood a few feet below him, holding the sleeping infant above his head. "Never will this child grow to oppose me!" And with that said, he tossed the child over his shoulders and down to the sea below.

Sawa gasped in horror. Immediately he transformed into his tiger form and leapt down after the child, ignoring the laughter of the kidnapper. He caught up to the child in no time and caught his garments between his teeth. He struggled to keep a hold of him, but it was no use trying to keep the child safe and remain in the air at the same time. He tried to return back to their realm with the child, but they were blocked out. And no matter how hard he tried, the realm's gate would not open for them. What was he to do?

Then he noticed a ship of some sort. He looked closer and saw a young couple, roughly around the age as the emperor and empress were. Their faces looked kind and gentle, and the way they held each other as the man steered the ship, made Sawa believe they would take Sun Tai as their own child for now. And since the child was now nearly dropping out of his mouth, he had no choice.

Quickly, he conjured up a magic spell he had learned long ago, and formed a bubble around the infant. Silently he watched as it floated over to the ship and onto its deck, where it burst, leaving the infant out in the opening. Only the cries brought the people over to the child, where with surprise they lifted the child into their arms and could only wonder where he had come from.

Sawa sighed heavily. He did not feel sad about the child being with these people. No, he felt ashamed that he had not been able to protect him. And now because of him, the emperor had lost his only true heir. With a heavy heart full of guilt, the tiger was somehow able to return to his own realm.


	2. Chapter 2

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 2.

Fourteen years later. 

Five young men had been told of a possible choice that their immortal enemy, Talpa, the emperor of the Netherrealm had targeted a main person within this Asian Realm. They did not know who this person was, or exactly why he or she was targeted, but according to a trusted friend, Cleo Deathstorme, it was important they went there and sought this person out before Talpa and his Warlords did.

As of now, the five of them marched through a meadow part of the empire, each one keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of a potential person in danger. They had not run across anyone, however, in the last two hours they had been there, and needless to say Kento was getting irritated.

"Okay, we've been searching for this person for who knows how long, going past the same buildings over and over again, and finding nothing at all! Why don't we just give up for now?"

"Kento, you know we can't do that," Cye chided him as he glanced at his friend who walked beside him on his right.

"Cye's right, Kento," Rowen said as he gazed up at the hot, bright sun. "Talpa's probably been checking every person here for their power. We need to be aware of who has this power and who doesn't."

"Oh, that's easy for you to say," Kento grumbled. "We know Talpa's got the power of the netherspirits to see potential powers. All we have is our armors!"

Ryo gave Kento an irritated glance. He was beginning to get a headache, and with Kento's constant whining, that headache was increasing minute by minute. "Kento, enough! We'll find this person, whoever they are, and Talpa won't lay a finger on them!"

Kento sighed heavily and muttered to himself. 

Sage, on the other hand, had been very quiet as they moved through the meadow and into the village. People passed them on all sides, some glancing warily at the strangers, and some even looking horrified at Kento. At first Kento had been offended, but Rowen told him these people abhorred a natural Asian man or boy to have cut hair, and so Kento unwillingly let it go. There was still much about this realm that he did not know of.

Sage could feel some power within this village though. The strongest of it came from the palace where the emperor and his empress dwelled. It was said that long ago, they had lost their only son, and that now, any strangers in their city were often treated with caution. The son had never been found, and the emperor had grown sorrowful. Though, remarkably, he was able to attend all that mattered with utmost importance. However, rumor had it, he and his wife had cried every night for the next seven years after their only heir had come up missing.

They passed a vendor selling fish and vegetables. Cye cringed at the sight of the fish, but said nothing about it. He knew these people ate fish to survive, and he had no problem with that. He just didn't agree selling the fish to make a profit of it. 

Kento glanced at the fish and felt his stomach rumble. He looked sheepishly at the others who sweatdropped at him. "What? I'm hungry!"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Ryo asked as he raised his eyes to the sky.

Everyone chuckled, but they did agree to get something to eat. Cleo had given them some money to survive in this realm and even gave them tips on how to get about it. Without her, they would have been totally lost from the beginning. They went over to the vendor and bought fish and some vegetables. Cye ate only vegetables, having no interest in eating fish. He couldn't stomach it. 

After they had eaten, they started their search up once again. By now it was around 4:00 in the afternoon. There would not be much daylight left and they would have to stop for the night. They could only hope they would find this person before Talpa's Warlords did.

Meanwhile two women were traveling in the same village, one of them inspecting many fine things that were being sold. She carried a small basket with some of the trinkets she had purchased, and was interested in purchasing at least one more object.

Many of the men admired this young woman. Her hair was extraordinary. It was long, flowing to her hips, a lavender color almost, and eyes shone brightly and soothed the soul when looked upon. Many times she would see a young man staring at her and she would grow fearful. She could not count the number of times her father had imprisoned one for getting too close to her.

The other woman, more older in appearance, but with a gentle voice, spoke to her with much concern. "Your highness, we should return to the palace. For it is getting late."

Clea looked up and frowned toward the sun. A sigh escaped her lips and she nodded regretfully. "Alas, we better. Father will be furious with me if I am late coming home."

And so the two women set off toward the palace. As they walked along, they passed five strangers, and as they did, without their knowledge, one of them suddenly stopped in his tracks and whirled around to stare after Clea, his eyes wide.

Sage was frozen as he stared after Clea. He could feel something emanating from her and it stirred his soul, setting it ablaze. He didn't realize the others were still walking onward without him, nor did they seem to realize they had left him behind. In the end, one Ronin was separated from four other Ronins, as Halo followed after the princess, determined to find out more about her.

By the time Ryo, Rowen, Kento, and Cye had reached the end of the village and were nearing a forest on the eastern side of the realm, Ryo looked around and suddenly noticed that their comrade was missing. "Where's Sage?!"

Rowen whirled around, his eyes widening, and his heart beat quickening. "I don't get it! He was right behind me!"

"Where did he go?" Cye wondered as he walked a little ways from the others, looking left and right at the road they had just come across. "He couldn't have gotten far."

"Knowing him, he probably saw some hot chick and took off after her," Kento said, calmly.

Ryo threw him an agitated glance. "He knew we had a job to do. Okay, Rowen and Kento, you two go search for him. Cye and I will continue on this trail and see if we can find the endangered person."

It was agreed, and the four of them split up.

Meanwhile, three other strangers had appeared on the northern side of the realm, about a few blocks from the palace itself. The young girl, and the two boys with her, strode through the town carefully, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears attentive as they moved through the crowd.

The girl was 5'7 and had brown hair that was shoulder length, her eyes cerulean blue, and her countenance friendly, but also seemed to be fierce at the same time. Though right now she seemed quite serious and agitated, as if she knew what she was seeking and had to get it right then and there.

The boy on her left was smaller in size, about 5'6 or less, with long unkempt orange-brown hair, and sky blue eyes. There was an earring in his left ear, and he had a splatter of light freckles across his nose. He seemed a bit worried, but tried not to show it. He kept glancing around vigilantly, one question weighing on his mind. Why here? And why now?

To the girl's right side was a taller boy. He had neck length blond hair that shone like the sun, his right eye a light blue in color, and the left eye hidden behind a wall of hair. He was 6ft tall, and surprisingly quite handsome. He had caused many heads to turn and many of the female villagers to wonder whether he was taken or not. Through it all, he had ignored them. 

All three of them had been sent there to do a job. They had been told that their enemy Tutock had been interested in seeking a certain power from the emperor, and whatever that power was, was an unknown one. They only knew if Tutock got his hands on it, then he would be difficult to defeat, even for the girl who walked among the boys. She had beaten him twice before with her pyrokinesis. And now with Tutock alive and well again, it would be up to them to keep this power source safe from his grip.

"It's too bad Chinook didn't say what this power source was exactly," Scorpio, in a Scandinavian accent, said with a heavy sigh as he held an arm over his eyes, blocking off the sun's rays.

"He said we'd know it when we found it," Flash said with a shrug. 

Thunder's eyes narrowed as he moved ahead of them a bit. He could see trouble stirring up just at the gates of the palace. Many of the emperor's soldiers were fighting furiously against what he recognized to be soldierknights. Huge robot warriors that had been created by the Guardian Malice of Terror. These soldierknights had armors with thick spikes, huge like muscles, and speed that would surprise a person going 45 mph in an automobile. They had been programmed well, and weren't real easy to defeat.

"It looks like we may find out sooner than we think!" he told the others with his German accent. 

The other two followed his gaze, and immediately all three of them ran toward the palace. 

Inside the palace, the emperor was giving orders to secure the palace and to have his best men out there protecting the place. "Don't let them enter the building! Keep my daughters and wife safe! These monsters will not enter within these walls!"

"Yes, sir!" shouted a guard as he bowed, then hurried off to fulfill his duty.

A male servant stood by a window though, watching the battle. At first all he could see was his majesty's guards doing their job at protecting the palace, but then he saw three young people, warriors it seemed like. They were fighting against these monsters, using moves he had never seen before. The girl flipped into the air and kicked out at one with both feet, sending it tumbling backwards, before she landed on her hands and gave a final kick, instantly destroying it. The smaller boy waited until he had two of them charging at him full speed, hands outstretched to grab him, when he suddenly leapt high into the air and did a back somersault over one of their heads, allowing the two to destroy each other on impact. 

The taller boy grabbed one's wrist and flipped it over his shoulder, then lashed out with a sudden kick to the side, catching another in the stomach. He did a hand sprang, allowing a soldier to crash head first into guard's outreached sword, then flipped up into the air and delivered a final kick to another one.

The servant's mouth dropped open with astonishment. "Yo.. Your majesty! Come quickly! You must see this, sire!"

The emperor glanced over at his servant wondering what he was babbling about. Sighing, he joined him at the window and looked out. Immediately, he saw his guards doing their job, and he saw… .what was this? Three children helping them?!

When these horrible monsters had been defeated, the emperor quickly went outside. He had to speak to these children. 

"Well, I think that's the last of them," the girl said as she dusted her hands off. "I was really hoping for a barbecue though."

"It may have been the last of them, but what about more to come?" the taller boy asked softly as he gazed around.

"You fight incredibly well," came a new voice, which caused them to turn around. Their eyes widened. They had expected to see perhaps a princess of this palace, but to see the actual emperor? Unbelievable. 

"I was watching you from the window when my servant called me forth to witness your fighting. I am most intrigued by it." He gazed at them all, and they all noticed just how tall he was. For he stood at 6'4 in height, and seem to possess great power. "Tell me, what are your names?" he asked them, gazing at each one.

"Er, well, I'm Flash," the girl replied as she bowed respectively. "That's Scorpio," she replied, pointing at the smaller boy, "and that's Thunder." The two boys bowed in respect as well.

The emperor nodded at them all. "Then you are welcome to stay in my palace. You fought well against these monsters, and I would like to learn more. Follow me."

And so they did. As they walked along the halls, the emperor began firing questions at them. They answered each one as best they could, and this only intrigued him more. 

"So these monsters are called soldierknights?" he asked them as he cast them a glance.

"Yes," Thunder replied. "We have much fear that our enemy Tutock has targeted this place for a specific power source."

"And what sort of power source would this be?" the emperor demanded as they rounded a corner.

"We're not sure," Scorpio answered. "All we know is if he gets it, then the entire realm, and perhaps the universe is in grave danger."

"And how do you propose we stop this Ticktock?" the emperor asked, pronouncing Tutock's name wrong.

"Ticktock," Flash said with a thoughtful look, "I like that. Anyway, we have special powers, all three of us here. I can start fires, Scorpio has control over waters, and Thunder.. well, he can heal and bring back killed people. Oh, and he also has power over lightning sources."

"Is that so?" the emperor said, looking at them with mild curiosity. "Well, then. I will say for now, you will be shown to your rooms to rest. You may walk anywhere you wish, except the north wing. If you need help, a servant or a handmaiden will be happy to give it. You will join me for dinner?" It was a statement rather than a question.

The three of them nodded, and soon the emperor called for a handmaiden, gave specific orders, then left them on their own. But as the three of them followed the young girl through the large halls, a pair of eyes watched them from the shadows, watching particularly one person.


	3. Chapter 3

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 3.

Sage brushed aside some foliage as he kept his eyes on the two women walking ahead of him in the distance. The sun shone on his back, filling him with warmth and strength and it gave him the increasing ability to walk through these small patch of trees and bamboo to follow the one who had stopped him in his tracks. Of course she didn't know she had, but that was alright. He only needed to learn who she was. He felt drawn to her for some reason and he wanted to know why. The question was, if he caught up to her would she talk to him? There was only one way to find out. He carefully scaled a wall and silently jumped down onto the other side. He was careful, so far, not to be seen by the guards who patrolled this area. He had no intention of alarming them, so he sneaked past them, keeping low to the ground and moving as silently as a shadow.

He watched as the two women entered into the palace doors. It was there that Sage knew he would no longer be able to follow her. At least not right now. Instead he moved off toward the left and circled behind some bushes that went into a length for about thirty feet. There he found himself facing another side of the palace. He glanced at the many windows and saw people, servants, he guessed, walking back and forth within the walls of the building. It was there, he decided he would wait until she came back out. 

Clea checked in with her father and her mother, and then headed off to her chambers. There she bathed and dressed for the night, a light lavender kimono with a cute panda head stitched on the back of it. After she had brushed her hair out and allowed it to flow loosely upon her back, she decided to pick up her bamboo flute. The evening was drawing near, but it would not hurt to sit out by the west pavilion and play for awhile. She left her chamber once again and walked out toward the back of the palace, and sat down on a carved bench. She placed the instrument to her lips and began to play. At first the melody was soft, but then it began to increase in harmony, drifting off into the air, creating a haunting lullaby for all those to hear. It was rather enchanting and many paused to listen to such a sweet tune.

Though she did not know just how enchanted she had made one such listener become. From his hiding place, Sage riveted his gaze upon her. Not one muscle moved, and he hardly breathed. By now the desire to get to know her and her name was becoming an obsession within his veins. 

Then he felt the presence of two familiar people and looked over his shoulder at them. It didn't surprise him how they had managed to sneak into his hiding place without being caught, but he wondered what they were doing there in the first place.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked them without turning his attention away.

"Ryo sent us, Sage," Rowen told him in a stern voice. 

"Yeah, man," Kento said. "He found out that you weren't with us, so he sent us to find you. Can't believe we tracked you all the way here to the palace. For what though?"

"See that girl?" Sage answered as he pointed toward Clea. Both nodded, following his forefinger with their gazes. "There's something mysterious about her, something that draws me to her, but I'm not sure what."

Kento continued to watch for a few minutes longer, then shrugged casually. "Knowing you, man, probably a crush."

Sage looked annoyed. "It is not a crush!" 

Rowen rolled his eyes with a small sigh while he shook his head. "Anyway, we have to get back. Our mission is still clear, Sage. And, uh.. Sage, where are you going?!"

But Sage paid no attention to either of them. The girl had stopped playing and was now walking toward the palace doors again. He could withstand no longer. He left his hiding place and began to follow her across the grounds, hoping to catch up to her and talk with her.

Rowen and Kento sighed heavily, knowing that this was going to be one of those nights they were going to regret. They followed after him, trying to get him to stop and turn around and to come back with them to Ryo and Cye. But Sage was relentless in his pursuit. 

He followed the girl all the way up to the doors and only stopped once he realized that the two guards were pointing their pikes at him. 

"Halt!" one said in a gruff voice.

"State your name and business!" the other one demanded.

"Er..," Sage stammered as he turned his attention on them. "I just wanted to talk to that girl who went through the doors."

"For what purpose?" the first one demanded.

"I just want to know who she is," Sage answered. "I've been wanting to know since I first saw her in the market."

Both guards stared at him, their eyes narrowed and suspicious. "Have you been following her all day?"

"Not all day," Sage admitted. "Just for the past four hours."

By now Kento and Rowen had caught up to him, both shaking their heads at him. They wanted to tell him that it was time to leave and get back to Ryo, but neither got that chance.

"You're all under arrest then," the second guard said firmly. "For stalking the princess."

"Princess?!" Sage blurted out.

"Arrested?!" Rowen and Kento shouted in unison.

But they could not fight their way out of this one. In no time at all, they found themselves locked within a cell in the palace dungeon, each one expressing different feelings about what had just happened. Sage was in shock. He had been following a princess? He had thought she was a mere girl. Kento was confused and wondered how Ryo and Cye would find them. And Rowen was angry, very angry. It was all he could do to force himself not to attack Sage. And so he stayed in the back corners, counting slowly to a hundred and back again.

After they had gotten settled in, the three newcomers, Flash, Thunder, and Scorpio joined the emperor for dinner. They told him how they had been sent by their master who was aware of how their main enemy Tutock could be targeting this realm. The emperor listened with silence, never taking his gaze off them as each of them took turns in speaking. Though he noticed that Thunder seemed to be a bit nervous around him. 

"So this Tictock may be coming here you said?" the emperor said as he ate some broiled fish. He failed to notice how pale Scorpio had become at seeing this. He waited for an answer and it wasn't long before he was given one.

"We have a feeling he may show when least expected," Flash answered. "It could be today, tomorrow, or even next week. His guardians are well trained and I doubt your guards would stand a chance against them as their powers are quite strong."

"So then what do you propose?" the emperor asked as he raised one eyebrow at them. He didn't see how his guards would have any trouble against these guardians, whoever they were, but he saw how difficult it had been for them to fare against those soldierknights. Then again the numbers outranked his guards 3 to 1. Could it be the powers of the guardians were highly advanced in magic? Like his own? 

"For now," Flash said, "allow us to deal with them. We know their ways quite well and we can stop them. We really don't expect another confrontation tonight, but we will know if they do arrive. And when they do we'll take care of them."

"I certainly hope so. I will not have my empire and its people frightened or worse off." the emperor told them with a stern voice. The three teenagers nodded. They understood how he was feeling at the moment, and did not blame him. They were going to do all they could to prevent their enemy Tutock from gaining access to whatever it was he was seeking for.

After they had eaten, the three left the emperor's presence and wandered throughout the halls. Each of them had serious expressions on their faces and knew they did not have much time. Tutock could send a Guardian or two at any given time and they had to be prepared. 

"So what now?" Scorpio asked as he looked over at Flash. 

Flash gave the answer straight away. As leader of the Warriors, she was often responsible for this kind of thing, and knew the consequences of such actions. In some cases certain sacrifices had to be made in order to save ones that were innocent. "We split up, and search the halls of this place. If there's a Guardian here, one of us will find him sooner or later."

"Let's just hope we don't run into two or more of them alone," Thunder said with a hint of worry in his voice. 

"That would suck," Scorpio agreed.

The three of them split up, each one going in a different direction. Thunder took the east wing, Flash the south wing, and Scorpio the west wing. They dared not go toward the north wing as that was the emperor's and empress' private chambers. They would only go there if they felt it absolutely necessary, and this time they did not. 

Thunder slowly walked down the hall, his visible right eye looking this way and that way. He could not help but feel strange. It was if something was calling to him from down the hall, a particular room in fact. He walked on, keeping his breathing still and even, his body tensed in case a Guardian came out suddenly. He got closer and closer to the room just down the hall. 

A shadow passed over him and he quickly whirled around, getting into a fighting stance. He waited. And waited. But nothing came. Sighing of relief, he turned around again, and continued on.

As last he reached the room. The door was shut tightly and curiosity got the better of him. He reached for the handle and pulled it open. The room inside held a crib and a wooden rocking chair, but other than that, it was empty. 

He let his gaze search the room. And then as if a ghost had come by, he could faintly hear a soothing lullaby and a baby's laughter. He listened closely for a moment, the sound of the song growing stronger in his head. Finally, he could withstand no longer. He shook his head abruptly and the singing and laughter stopped. He let himself search the room again. There was no way a Guardian could hide in here. 

He turned away and was about to leave when he felt something rub up against his legs. Startled he looked down to see a Siamese cat purring at his ankles. 

His eyes widened with surprise, but he bent down nonetheless and gently scratched the animal behind its ears. "Where did you come from? he asked.

The cat sat down and stared back at him, its face rather placid, as if it held many secrets. Though for some reason, Thunder couldn't help but feel the cat was happy to see him. Perhaps it was just lonely? 

"What are you doing here?" 

Thunder snapped his head around. A young woman, probably around nineteen or so, stared back at him with stern eyes. She carried a staff in her hand and a dagger under her belt. This was the priestess of the emperor, and she was often known for advising his majesty and for having great magic beneficial to the empire. Though she was a worthy foe, she would never attack unless she felt there was a reason or if she was provoked. So she gave the young teen time to answer. 

And that wait would be for a long time. For Thunder was shy of girls he did not know. It took him a long time, sometimes days, weeks, or even months before he spoke to them. And somehow this priestess sensed this. So instead of forcing him to speak up, she noticed the cat rubbing its body against the youth's legs. Curious eyebrows shot up as she watched this.

"I see Sawa's taken quite a liking to you," she said to Thunder. "Well, if he trusts you, I'll trust you as well. I would say that's fair enough, don't you agree?"

Thunder did not answer, nor did he nod. Instead, he allowed himself to be politely excused and hurried down the hall, the cat following along behind him.

The priestess watched him go, studying him. '_Hm_,' she thought to herself, before turning to shut the door to the room, and leaving as well. 


	4. Chapter 4

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 4. 

Ryo paced back and forth in that stretch of woods, hands tightly clenched behind his back, his eyes staring sternly at the ground, his jaw set. Every once in a while Cye, who sat nearby on a log, could hear him muttering, "Where are they?" over and over again. The stillness of the air did not seem to help much as the Wildfire Ronin clenched and unclenched his hands behind his back. Whenever he got like this, it was never a good sign. In fact the last time he had gotten like this was when Rowen stayed out all night long at the park a few months ago. There had been some heavy words and Rowen did not speak to Ryo for two weeks straight. 

__

'I just hope it doesn't turn out like that again,' Cye thought to himself as he continued to watch his leader. He knew that Ryo having a bad temper was quite dangerous, especially since Ryo did not know how to control it very well. There were times Ryo had run off for hours on end, practically destroying everything in his path with his rage. It had been suggested that he take anger management classes, but Ryo flat out refused. And now since the Ancient One had sent them here for a mission, Cye could only hope that Ryo would tone his temper down. 

Ryo let out a frustrated growl. "Where are they?!"

Cye did not dare to stand up. "Maybe they're still looking for Sage?" he suggested, lamely.

"Sage shouldn't have taken off to begin with," Ryo growled angrily. "They should have been back by now! And we know they're not in danger." He let out a sigh, desperately wanting to calm down, but his rage continued to build up. He wanted to lash out at something, strike a tree down, let forth his fire into the field beyond.

Just then his cell phone rang. He immediately snatched it up and flipped it open, before pressing a button and speaking into it. "Sage, you better have a good excuse to.."

"Well, thanks for saying hello to me too, Ryo," came a very sarcastic female voice. 

Ryo winced upon hearing it. Immediately, his rage seemed to lower a little bit. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out before he explained himself. "I'm sorry, Cleo. Sage took off during our mission, and Rowen and Kento went after him. They've been gone for a couple of hours now."

"Well, that's what I was calling you about," Cleo told him.

"Eh?"

"I found out from a reliable source that the emperor had three strangers arrested. One with yellow hair like the sun, one with blue hair like the sky, and one with hair like ashes left from a fire." Cleo paused on the other end, ready to hear Ryo begin his cursing and threatening to kill the three once he got a hold of them. She silently counted to three as she waited for his response. And it soon came.

"Those idiots! I swear I'll beat the living daylights out of them once I get a hold of them!" Ryo swore a few times as he kicked at a rock, sending it flying against the trunk of a tree where it split in half and fell to the ground, the two halves side by side. 

Cleo winced as she held the phone away from her ear. She hated it when he shouted into the phone. She rubbed her ear, then continued. "Anyway, that's all I heard about those three."

Ryo turned his attention back to the phone again. "Do you know where they're being held at exactly?"

"Where do you think, Ryo? The emperor had them arrested. I assume them to be in the palace dungeon," Cleo replied.

"Where is this palace?" 

"Up north of the realm. You can't miss it. It's a long and wide building with the most guards around it. Though I'd be careful, Ryo. I heard the emperor is not one to mess with," Cleo said, urgently. 

"I'm not worried about him. I'll get the three stooges out. Thanks, Cleo."

"Just be careful, okay?" Cleo pressed on him. "You're welcome though. "Good luck. You'll need it." With that she hung up from him.

Ryo put his cell phone back into his pocket and looked at Cye. "Let's go. We're going to the palace."

Cye stood up, and the two of them immediately headed off toward the main center village. 

Cleo Deathstorme sighed as she left her phone. Her ear was still ringing from Ryo's shout earlier and she scowled. She was gonna give him quite the tongue lashing when she would see him again. She left her living room quarters and strolled down the hall of her palace. Though she did not refer herself as a queen here, she owned this realm and the palace within in it. Her workers respected her and she respected them. Well, perhaps one person she did not. And that was Keisu. A good person at heart, but his cooking would cause the strongest of souls to wish they had been eaten with acid rather than taste his cooking. 

The palace itself was pretty large. The flooring was made of granite marble and would magically change colors every day. One day they could be green and the next day they could be blue. One color they would never be was pink. For Cleo loathed that color. The walls were a lavender color trimmed in a violet color adding more depth to it. Upon the grand hallway were many archways on other side of the halls, all leading to a different passage or room. Famous anime paintings hung on the walls, especially those of her favorite anime bishounens. 

From the grand hall were the outer areas, each one leading to a specific room. Toward the south wing were the rooms featuring the kitchen, dining room, pantry, and laundry room. Toward the north wing were the main rooms featuring the grand living room, the ball room, and the bedrooms. 

Toward the west wing were the computer room, the library room, and other types of rooms she hadn't visited in so long she forgot what were in them. She should probably visit these rooms someday, whenever she decided to stop being lazy about it.

Toward the east wing were the servants quarters. There were fifty servants who lived within her palace and each one had their own specific room. All these rooms were made of the same marble flooring and same beautiful wall texture with beautiful matching wooden furniture. 

It was quite amazing how all of the servants managed to keep the palace in such beautiful condition, especially when Keisu constantly made a mess in the kitchen, and when monsters seemed to come from nowhere and attack.

But today was a peaceful day, or at least it had been when she first woke up. She had only learned from an hour before of Sage, Rowen, and Kento being arrested for stalking the princess of the Asian Realm. Upon hearing that she had immediately called Ryo. 

And now a part of her suffered for that. She would have to find some way to stop this ear from ringing before it annoyed her too much. 

She decided that perhaps she would go visit the Asian Realm later. Mainly to find out what everyone was up to, and mainly to yell at Ryo for screaming in her ear. But for now, her computer was calling her name. She turned around and headed for west wing, passing through an archway and greeted two servants who smiled at her and continued on their way. She entered into the computer room and sat down at her chair as she turned it on. 

"Geeze," she muttered to herself, "these people have been living with me for so long, you'd think they'd say hi back to me, instead of just smiling at me." 

Her computer came on and she stared at the screen for a while, debating on what to do while her mind wandered around. Then at last she clicked open a window. 

In another realm the Dynasty emperor Talpa sat on his throne, staring down at his four warlords. These were Anubis, Warlord of Cruelty, Dais, Warlord of Deception, Cale, Warlord of Corruption, and Sekhmet, Warlord of Venom. Each of these warlords had been under his command for more than two hundred years, and each one looked to be about in his twenties. They were strong warriors and mostly pleased him, and sometimes they did not please him, and he would punish them. 

Each one stood in silent obedience before him, waiting for him to speak. Stationed around the castle and at its borders of the land were dynasty soldiers and netherspirits. For now it was mostly quiet. It was apparent that Talpa was thinking and no one dared to interrupt him. 

"Badamon has found a very important aspect into achieving my goals," Talpa began as he looked from Warlord to Warlord. "I have studied, planned, weighed my options and have found them to be lenient toward me. For years I have been after Ryo of the Wildfire's Inferno armor, and have learned that I cannot possess it unless he himself gives it to me. However, on a certain realm there lies within a crystal, which I believe does possess the power for me to control that armor as well controlling any realm I desire."

"And where is this crystal, Master Talpa?" Anubis asked. The possibility of finding such a crystal did not appease to him too well. For there were thousands of realms and each one had a certain way of getting into. A task that was no easy feat. 

Talpa however raised his arm and pointed at the viewing mirror behind the Warlords. Each one turned and in it they saw a realm that looked remarkably like earth, but it had a different aura around it, and it was in another dimension far beyond the milky way. "There is the realm. Past Sector Z with coordinates F 3 and L 1. You will need to find a portal to teleport yourself there. I shall give you an cryl. It's a device that will be attracted to crystals. When it points out to the correct one it will glow a dark purple."

"And what if it's not the right crystal?" Dais asked him.

"Then it shall glow a lighter color." Talpa's eyes flashed as the cryl appeared in Anubis' hand. "Now get going and do not fail me. For failure will bring much consequences."

The four Warlords bowed and disappeared. 

Just a few realms away from where the Dynasty was, was another realm. This realm was about the size of Jupiter, perhaps a bit larger. It appeared to the viewer as a land mostly made of dried desert. The sky was as red as blood, and the ground was barren and cracked in some places, sandy in other places, and rocky in some other places. The entire area stunk as bad as one hundred opened cemeteries. Under the ground lived creatures called soliothifs which came up above to cling to a human being and leech onto them, to fight for their body. These were strong creatures and usually had a gray transparent form with wisps of smoke rising up from them. Their fingers were long and bony, but very strong. All the soliothif would have to do to claim a person was dig their way into their captive's body; a painful procedure. 

Besides these soliothifs were creatures of all different shapes, sizes, and strengths. They usually hid within mountains on the far western part of the realm. They often did not come out unless they were either extremely hungry or were forced to. 

On the south side there was a beautiful water fountain with the purest looking water that had ever been seen. However its waters were a poison to ever drank them, and most would die from it. In the center of this fountain there was a jewel which enabled the emperor of this realm to keep track of his realm and all who may be within it.

Toward the east there was a long ravine that was several feet wide in diameter, stretching all the way across toward the east. Going in that direction there was a way to get across this ravine, however jumping over onto the other side would not work. Powerful gravity would pull down any person who dared attempt such a feat, causing them to fall four hundred feet between the two walls of the ravine.

Toward the north was a large lake with waters as red as blood as the sky. There was a single island in the middle of it, with a massive black castle with no windows, no doors, and whose towers reached beyond the sky. 

It was here that the emperor of this realm resided. Along with his best warriors called Guardians. Nine altogether, all hand picked by him, and all given an armor by him. Each one was different, each one was important to achieving his goals of domination. 

There was a meeting in his throne room at the moment. He sat on his throne, dressed casually in a black robe with a red cape adorning his figure, his long black hair hanging down his back, his red eyes taking in each Guardian that knelt down before him in humble obedience. They were silent as he spoke to them.

"I have sensed a great power coming from a realm which is not too far from my realm. I have no idea what this power is, but I believe it will be enough to end Firestarter and her pathetic Warriors once and for all."

"But, Master Tutock," came a rather deep voice from in front. "What of Storm?"

Tutock's eyes flashed as he recalled his wanton desire for the boy. For Storm had many abilities that involved healing and raising the slain, amongst them, the abilities to heal himself and the disability to be killed in any shape or form unless it was naturally. "Ah, yes, Storm. Do not worry about him. I will have him when the time is right. Our main goal for now is to find this power source, Karma, and I trust you will not fail me."

Karma, with dark brown hair that was parted on either side, with eyes as black as the night, and with a deadly looking burn scar under his right eye, nodded his head. "I will do my best to keep from failing you, Master Tutock," he replied in humble obedience.

That was one thing Tutock liked about Karma. He never made lousy promises on not failing him. He would always do his best and would accept punishment without complaint if he did not succeed. He nodded his head and turned to the other Guardians as they awaited his orders. 

"I want you all to be aware that while searching for this power source, you will run into the Warriors. Do not let them stop you. Work together as a team, and don't mess this up!"

All nine Guardians nodded their heads, and were soon dismissed from the throne room.

As they walked down the hall toward their rooms, each one had their own thoughts. 

Suicide, a man who took after the military ways, was wondering how soon they would be sent to this realm. He did not understand why they were not being sent now, but he would not question his master. He ran his hand over his crew-cut brown hair, then quickly regained his stiff posture as he stood before his door and entered inside his bedroom.

Malice, a Guardian with green hair and hazel eyes, and with a long scar underneath his left eye, played with his bone necklace for a while as he gathered his thoughts carefully. He was the genius of the group and was also the one responsible for designing ninja like robots known as soldierknights. He wasn't sure what trouble they would run into at the other realm, but they would handle it. 

Claw went into his room immediately. Many thoughts ran through his head like water runs from a tap over a sink. He wanted to sit down and paint some lovely pictures, as he focused on his own inner troubles. Being the only Guardian who was not only a killer, but an avid painter, as well as a flirt, he knew that he could very well lose track of this mission should he be distracted. Sighing heavily he ran a hand through his shortened black hair and gazed at himself in the mirror. He was of full Asian descent, but did not seem very proud of it. For he knew of many Asians who considered short hair an abomination. 

Not that he cared any way. He made a small promise to himself. Even if he was attracted to a lovely girl or more, he would not lose sight of his mission.

Sin was actually eager to go. He was the punk of the Guardians, and the way he styled his extremely dark brown hair, and the way he wore his clothes seem to add more to his style. He was a thief, and would steal anything that was not nailed down. He had a nasty temper at times, but it was only when someone provoked him or stopped him from doing something he loved. 

And now that he was getting to go to this Asian realm, he would find some valuable things to steal, and no one was going to stop him.

(A/N: I cut this short for a reason. It would take way too long to explain each Guardian in one single chapter with the other mini plots of the stories going. So I plan to introduce the rest in the following chapter. Until then, see ya next time.)


	5. Chapter 5

****

A/N: Okay, something I forgot to mention last time. The description of Cleo's palace, comes from me, and isn't really what the palace looks like. Cleo Deathstorme, the owner of Cleo, and of Cleo's realm, hadn't thought up a description of the palace, so I made my own up. And yes, I had her permission before anyone asks. Anyway, here's chapter 5. Read, and give feedback. I love feedback. 

A Past Forgotten 

Chapter 5.

Surge, the Guardian of Darkness, entered into his room with a sigh. He knew it would not be long before they would have to leave for their mission, and he tensed at the thought of it. He loved to battle and getting the full glory of it, including praises for a job well done. However, with the thought that the Warriors might be present there, worried him a little. He still remembered the last time they had been defeated by those pests. It had been a war that had lasted too long in his opinion.

He sat down on his bed and ran his hand through short green hair, getting his fingers stuck in a few curly strands and impatiently detangling them. He was craving a beer at this point of time, but he knew if he went out to the taverns, his master would be furious with him. 

For Tutock never allowed the Guardians permission to leave when he was getting ready to send them on a mission. Sin had left one time right before they were to leave for a mission, and when he had returned, Tutock had punished him severally.

Surge could still hear Sin's screams from that night that happened so long ago. For Sin had been chained by his wrists over a dark pit that seemed to have no bottom. In this pit there was this creature that had literally gnawed at Sin's skin for hours on end, leaving patches of torn, bleeding flesh in numerous places. 

No one had ever seen this creature, but Karma. Karma had only told him the creature was in the appearance of a snake, but that it was more cruel in terms of killing its prey. To kill its prey, it would simply eat the layers of skin one by one, before consuming all the other organs, leaving behind only the skeleton. 

Surge shivered rather violently. It was not an experience he'd ever want to feel first hand. With a sigh he decided going to sleep would give him a better grasp of being able to think more clearly, and to stop wishing for a night out at the bar. He would go later, once they succeeded in their mission. 

So he stripped off his shirt and threw it carelessly to the floor and laid on his bed. He closed his eyes, but sleep did not come for him right away. His body rolled to the left, then to the right. He laid on his back, then on his stomach, only to again toss to the right side. 

He sighed impatiently. He could never fall asleep without drinking himself beyond the state of drunkenness. So finally he decided to just lie still and let his thoughts overtake him. 

Cain plopped down onto the floor in his room. All around his room were many stuffed animals. From tigers to teddy bears. He had them all. All he had taken from children, and proudly too. He grabbed one particular stuffed animal, an orange cat with a blue collar, and stared into its beady glass eyes.

"Mr. Bubbles, Master Tutock will send us on a journey to another realm to collect some type of power there. Do you think we'll succeed?" he asked it. 

Cain wasn't very bright as one could tell. Though he was a full size adult, his mind worked like a child's. He was often seeing playing with his stuffed animals, or doing something else immaturely. 

This of course got on the other Guardians' nerves, but there was nothing they could do. For Cain had a powerful punch when in his armor, and when he didn't screw his missions up, Tutock was pleased with the results it could give. 

The stuffed cat did not answer him. However, he turned his right ear and leaned closer to its mouth, his long, shaggy reddish brown hair brushing against the stuffed animal. He became very quiet, his eyes widening a little as he seemed rather surprised about something. 

"You don't say!" he gasped. "We're going to succeed? How soon?"

He listened again, but after a bit he frowned. "Oh, you don't know. Okay." 

Sighing, he placed the animal back with the others and sat back a little bit, wrapping his arms around his knees. For a while he rocked back and forth on his haunches. He knew it would be a couple of hours at least before Tutock summoned them to leave. Finally, with a grin, he sat up on his knees, and smiled warmly at his stuffed animals. 

"Let's have a tea party!" he exclaimed.

The stuffed animals just stared back him. 

Cain jumped to his feet, and raced around his room, digging through boxes until he brought out several cups, a teapot, a box of tea, and one of those little kiddy stoves that actually worked. He then took the pot and left for a few minutes. When he returned, he placed the pot of water on the little stove and turned it on, then proceeded to add the little tiny tea bags to it. 

While waiting for the tea to boil, he arranged a small table in the center of the room, and placed tiny teacups and saucer on it, then arranged the animals around it. When he checked the tea, it was ready. 

So thus, became another tea party for Cain and his animals. The poor delusional soul. 

Savage grunted as he did another pushup in the training room. He kept the mission in the back of his mind, but didn't really think about it at the time. He wanted to be at his best in case there should be a battle. And there always was. It seemed that wherever the Guardians would go, the Warriors would be there as well. And knowing that fact infuriated him. 

He counted as he did each pushup, his red and green hair, which was in the shape of a short Mohawk, was glistening with sweat, his pink colored eyes stared straight ahead as if seeing nothing else at the time. 

When he had counted to one hundred, he rose to his feet and grabbed a towel nearby. After drying his face, he threw the towel carelessly in one corner and left the room. He headed back for his room, feeling more focused than he had. 

He passed a few soldierknights as he came through an archway, leading into a second hallway, and then finally after many twists and turns, he reached his bedroom. Upon entering his room, the thought of the mission entered into his mind. He grunted as he shut his door. Knowing the fact that this mission was important to succeed, he was worried of failure. He knew that failing would mean severe punishment. Something he wanted to avoid.

Incredible hatred flowed through his vein as he stood there in the center of his room, clenching his fists so tightly that he began to shake. If it wasn't for those blasted armored teenagers, they would never fail a mission. But now, they constantly continued to get in their way, defeating them, humiliating them. But this time, the tables would turn. It would be the Guardians who had the upper hand. Once that power was found, and Tutock wielded it, they would become too powerful for those wretched children, including Firestarter. 

Just that thought made him smile and he chuckled to himself. He could already imagine Tutock destroying the Warriors, and keeping one particular Warrior for himself. The only one who was like an immortal and could not be killed. He could see the people of every realm bowing to their knees before his master, revering him and praising his name, promising to do his bidding, lest his anger struck out upon their miserable selves. Yes, it was indeed a nice dream, with the potential of becoming a reality. 

He finally came out of his thoughts and smelled himself. His nose twitched and his eyes watered a little. A quick shower would get rid of that rancid smell. He grabbed some clothes from a bureau and left his room, heading once again down the hall, this time to the bathroom. 

Upon arriving, he saw the bathroom door was shut. He grunted and opened it up, and saw no one in there. He mentally rolled his eyes. Why did they shut the door when no one was in there? Grumbling to himself, he shut the door and strolled over to the shower. He turned the water on, then waited for it to get hot as he undressed. When the water was ready, he slipped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed. 

Razor laid in his bed, feeling rather lazy, but actually day dreaming. He couldn't wait to go to this realm, for he knew there was one Warrior there who he desperately wanted to strangle himself. He could feel his hands wrapping around the throat, choking the Warrior, while stabbing against that lithe body with his sais over and over again, with blood spurting from the wounds, and the cries of pains echoing from that mouth.

A wicked grin appeared across his face and he sat up, his long stringy black hair hiding the sides of his face, as his brown eyes narrowed for a moment. Why couldn't they go right this instant? he wondered. Surely, the sooner they left for this realm, the sooner they could complete their mission, and the better chance he would have at his planned fight. 

He stood up from his bed, deciding to go and ask someone who would know about this matter. He left his bedroom and walked down the hall, searching for Karma. He tried his room first, but he wasn't there. He tried the training room, the kitchen, every room on this floor, but still he could not find him. Then a thought came to him. Perhaps he was downstairs in the dungeon. 

He quickly ran down a flight of stairs, entered through the third floor where all types of creatures were kept for their purposes, came to another flight of stairs, went down them, but did his best to avoid the magic in this hallway as he came to another flight of stairs, ran down them, and entered onto the first floor where the soldierknights mostly resided. He was just above the dungeon area, but he would now take his good old time in getting there. 

He came to the door and opened it up, then strolled casually down the steps, watching his shadow move ahead of him, underneath the flame of the torches as he descended further and further underground. 

Had he never been down here many times before, he would have held his nose in agony. For the smell in this dungeon area was terrible. There were dead bodies locked away in one room, while rats scurried back and forth. Here and there, spider cobwebs weaved back and forth in the air. The air was heavy and cold, and if one was not used to this sort of thing, they would have passed out from it. 

He stepped off the last step, and moved forward, dipping under the low archway, passing two soldierknights who were guarding the main entrance. He was careful not to set off any alarms as he knew where every one was at. After walking through the long hallway, he finally came to the end of it and looked around. The dungeon was empty. 

Razor snarled in frustration. Where was Karma?!

Rowen could no longer hold himself back. With an enraged cry, he leapt from his spot in the corner and tackled Sage. He knocked the blond to the floor, wrapping his hands around his throat, and began to choke him. Beneath him, Sage struggled to get Rowen off him, but he could not pull those hands away from his throat. 

Kento looked up in shock, and immediately jumped up. He grabbed Rowen by the upper arms and began to pull the smaller Ronin off Sage. However, it took more work than he would have like to admit. "Rowen, stop it!" he shouted in desperation. "You're going to kill him!"

"Good!" Rowen shouted, angrily. 

Sage was still fighting to get Rowen off him. He could still actually breathe, but only a little bit, and if Rowen tightened his pressure any more, all air would be cut off. He knew deep inside that Rowen wasn't going to kill him. He was just so angry, and Sage could not blame him. He had been foolish in following the princess. But then again, how had he known what she was? He was a stranger to this realm, and knew no one except for his fellow Ronins. 

"Rowen, let go!" Kento shouted again, yanking forcibly. This time, Rowen let go of Sage, watching him with wild eyes. Sage scooted far away from him and rubbed his throat, panting just enough to get the air back into his lungs. 

Kento did not let go of Rowen until he was sure he was all right. He could feel the tension in that body, and waited patiently for it to lessen. When at last he felt Rowen relax, he let go. A big mistake. Rowen leapt forward at Sage again.

Sage jumped back, but he wasn't quick enough. Rowen was already there, his hands reaching out to his neck again. However, a quiet, feminine voice interrupted their fight.

"You were the one who has been following me."

At this, they all turned around, seeing a young girl with long violet hair, dressed in the traditional royal kimono of this realm. At one glance, they would have mistaken her for Cleo, however, they noticed some differences. For one thing, Clea's face seemed a bit more younger than Cleo's. She seemed uncertain and perhaps shy, where Cleo was rather open once she got to trust people. 

At either side, stood two guards, watching the prisoners' every move, their harsh sterns never wavering. 

Sage straightened up and frowned. He could not deny her the truth. "Yes, I have, your highness. But I meant you no harm. There was just something about you that drew me to you."

At this, Rowen rolled his eyes. Clea glanced at him, then back at Sage, her curiosity getting the better of her as she tensed slightly in nervousness. "Why though?"

Sage shook his head. "I'm not sure, myself. You seem to possess an aura different than from other girls I have met."

Clea was aghast and she took a step back. "What do you mean?!"

"I just mean you seem different than other girls," Sage replied, gently. He did not wish to frighten her, but it seemed he was doing a good job of it. He watched her carefully for a moment, certain that she would bolt and flee, however she remained in place. 

"I still do not understand why you would follow me though. My father does not take kindly to stalkers," she said softly. 

"I understand," Sage replied, humbly, as he bowed his head. "At the time I did not know who you were, and for that I apologize."

She stared at him for a long while silence hung in the air. She carefully read his face, seeing the downcast look he was giving without actually staring back at her. His eyes were lowered and his hands remained folded before him. She now felt sorry for him, though she didn't exactly know why. Finally, she spoke. "I forgive you." And turning on her heels, she left the dungeon with her body guards. 

Sage let out a sigh and walked to the back of the cell where he sat down and allowed his face to rest against his knees. Both Kento and Rowen stared at him, wishing they could understand why exactly Sage had followed this girl. Both of them were still angry at him, but now their anger was slowly diminishing, especially Rowen's. 

He approached his friend and sat down beside him, facing the floor, rather than at Sage. "I'm sorry, Sage," he apologized.

Sage was silent for a moment as he focused his thoughts, getting them into order. He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Rowen. I should have known better. I could not help myself though. Something was drawing me to that girl, and I have no idea what it was."

"You were attracted to her," Kento supplied as he leaned against the wall. 

Sage rolled his visible eye at him. "Maybe so, Kento, but that wasn't why I was following her."

"Then why were you?" Rowen asked as he turned to face him.

Sage shrugged helplessly as he shook his head. "Something draws me to her, like the way our bodies draw energy from the sun. But, the only problem is, I have no idea what that is! I wish I did know, then perhaps I would not frighten her so."

Both Kento and Rowen stared at him, each uncertain of what to say. They knew, however, it would only be a matter of time, before Sage figured out this mystery. They only hoped it would not put them, nor anyone else into danger. For now all they could do was wait for the mystery to unravel itself. 


	6. Chapter 6

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 6.

Flash had checked the entire south wing, every crevice, every beam of structure, every room, but there were no Guardians to be found. Still, she could not help feel but agitated. If they weren't here, then most likely they would be on their way. She gritted her teeth and wondered what to do for the time being. She had no way of knowing exactly when they were going to come until they did arrive, so being prepared at all times was a must. She wondered vaguely if the other two had any luck on their search, and decided to find them. She kept a close watch on her communicator watch as well, hoping for a signal from Snow, but he was quiet, and never once beeped her. 

Snow was the genius of the Warriors. Gifted with an IQ of 245, he was famous for his inventions that helped the team out. He had even created similar robots to that of Malice's, to aid in the training when Chinook had first brought the Warriors together. Aside from those creations, came other inventions, each one vital to the team. And now with the latest invention, the telecommunicator, it enabled them to talk from anywhere, no matter how far. 

"Damn," she muttered. "I wish I knew when they were coming!" Sighing heavily to herself, she turned and headed back down the hall, passing the treasury room as well as the library. Inside the library, Shen watched her pass as he sat there studying some ancient healing technique. He then returned to his studies, forgetting about her for the time being.

Flash rounded a corner, and took a quick look around in this hallway. It was mostly empty, and the sun shone through the windows, casting her shadow on the marble wall behind her. She glanced around, keeping herself prepared and felt rather anxious. If they were going to come, why not come now? What they were waiting for? The answer was simple. They were waiting for the Warriors to lower their guard.

"This is one Warrior who won't lower her guard," she muttered to herself and continued on. 

Scorpio had no better luck in the west wing. He had checked everywhere, but no Guardian had been spotted. At one time he had thought he had seen Karma, but this look-alike had no burn scar on his face, and these people seemed to know him. He had heard one guard refer to him as General Kamalus. It was rather interesting to say the least. For he had heard of certain people having what were deemed as realm twins. These 'twins' looked exactly like another from a distant realm, but were in no way related to the other by any means. Scorpio never did figure that one out. 

Silently he passed on through the west wing, now realizing there were no Guardians present. He ran a hand through his hair, then headed up the hall. The palace was pretty quiet at this time, and he wondered if anyone ever got into trouble for creating any type of noise. He guessed that there were certain times of the day when everyone had to be quiet, but he wasn't quite sure of that. 

He rounded a corner, going right and found himself in the southwest hall. Looking up and down this hallway, he saw it teemed with guards lined up on either side of the walls. Feeling a bit out of place, but knowing his duty, he sauntered forward, checking this hall out too. He could feel their eyes upon him, and admired them for that. Though they made him a little nervous, he did not show his reaction to them, and continued with his job. They were doing theirs, and he was doing his. 

After passing through this hall, he again found nothing nor sensed anything. He was beginning to believe the Guardians were not here at all. He tugged at his earring in his left ear, something he always did when nervous, worried, or agitated. Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. "Well, that figures it. They're not here. If they were, one of us would have spotted them by now, and the whole palace would be in an uproar."

He stopped his tugging and walked around another corner, now finding himself in the south wing. Just up ahead he could see Flash and she was coming his way. "Any luck?" he called to her.

She shook her head as she approached him. "Nada," she answered. She folded her arms over her chest with a deep sigh of frustration. "I know they're coming, but my question is when? Frankly, it's starting to annoy me that they're taking their sweet old time."

Scorpio glanced at her. "Do you think Thunder had any luck?"

"No, I didn't," Thunder suddenly said as he approached them from behind. This caused both of them to jump, and they both glared at him. 

"Don't do that!" Flash hissed at him.

"Yeah, Thunder," Scorpio agreed as he managed to get his heart back where it belonged. "We hate it when you do that!"

"Sorry," Thunder said. 

They accepted his apology as if they couldn't deny it anyway. Thunder had always walked silently no matter what type of environment he was in. And now as he stood with them, he related all that had happened. 

"I searched the entire east wing, but there were no Guardians nor any soldierknights. All I found was a lone cat and a room with an empty cradle and a wooden chair in it."

"And nothing was in there?" Flash asked, raising one eyebrow. She could already guess his answer. 

Thunder shrugged his shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I am not certain."

Scorpio was nonplussed by this as he wondered what his best friend was talking about. He knew at times that Thunder would say certain words one could not understand, but by the time the Warrior of Knowledge had explained himself, one would be full of understanding. "What do you mean?"

Thunder frowned as he recalled his memory of that room. "The room I had entered felt strangely familiar to me, but I don't know why. I've never been in that room before, and yet, when I entered it, a song entered into my head. I don't know the words, but I feel as if I know them somehow." He caught his friends staring strangely at him and grimaced. "I know, it sounds crazy."

Flash shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe you dreamt about it, and that's why it seems like déjà vu to you," she suggested.

"Maybe," Thunder agreed, and said no more on it.

"Well, what do we do now, since the palace is cleared?" Scorpio asked as he looked at Flash. 

"Not much else we can do, but wait and watch," she replied. And for that she was troubled . Tutock was getting more intelligent every time he attacked and it had been getting difficult to find flaws in his plans of conquest. She knew the battle would come, and when it did, it would not be pretty. She feared many lives would be lost, especially if the guards of the emperor did their best to protect the empire and the realm, and the lives of their rulers. 

The three of them then headed off together, heading back to the front of the palace where their rooms had been given to them. They would need time to think this all through, and come up with a new plan. Flash was planning to talk to Blaze, while Thunder planned to meditate. Scorpio had no idea what he would do, but he would figure that out later. Right at the moment, they all wanted to rest up from their futile search. 

Both Scorpio and Thunder headed into their rooms, while Flash halted a handmaiden on her way to do laundry. "Excuse me, where are the nearest woods?" she asked.

"The nearest woods are south of this palace," the handmaiden answered her, but her eyes were fearful, worried. "But, you should not go in there!"

Flash blinked in confusion. "Why not?"

"Bandits are known to travel through the woods," the handmaiden explained. "They will hunt you down, rob you, and perhaps kill you. If not, they will take you as their slave!"

Flash shook her head. "Really now? Well, they'll be sorry if they cross me. Thank you for the warning and for the directions." And saying no more, she turned quickly and headed toward the front doors of the palace and exited through them. 

Thunder had meditated for about fifteen minutes when the sudden need for sleep overcame him. He had tried to fight it off, but it was no good, and soon enough he lay sound asleep, breathing quietly. 

Unknown to him, his door opened and a figure entered within. This figure crept silently up to the side of the bed and hesitated for a moment at his side, determining whether he should proceed or just back off before the boy awoke. The boy made no move, however, and the figure moved forward. He lifted the left sleeve of Thunder's shirt and peered closely at the shoulder area. He saw a birthmark there. He let go of Thunder's sleeve and quickly exited the room.

Thunder slept on.

The figure hurried down the hall, passing other people and guards before he came to one particular room and entered into it. The aroma of incense; cinnamon, myrrh, and different types of oils filled his nostrils, but he did not pay attention to it. He approached the young woman kneeling on the floor and bowed before her. 

"He has a birthmark," he informed, "shaped in the way of an double axe and a cross, my priestess." 

She nodded her head, keeping her face impassive. "So I see," she responded. She nodded her head. "Thank you, you may go." 

He bowed again and departed. She rose to her feet. Inside she was surprised at this. Still she could not know for certain until she did some checking and testing. Only until she could actually prove it, she would say nothing to the emperor. 

Flash had easily found the woods right where the handmaiden had told her they would be. She did a quick search of the area, scanning for any signs of danger, but all she saw was a rabbit hopping by. She walked over to a large white boulder surrounded by a few trees, and then closed her eyes, concentrating. A flame appeared in her forehead, glowing for a moment, and then faded away. She opened her eyes to see the large white wolf standing before her on the boulder. 

__

"I expect you have something important to ask of me?" the wolf replied to her mind. 

Flash nodded her head, then related to him of how their search had ended miserably. The wolf listened calmly, never once interrupting her, and by the time she was finished, he had her answer. 

__

'The Guardians will come, but it will be a time most inconvenient for anyone. The hour will be late and darkness shall reign for many hours. When they come they will be seen as moving shadows."

Flash looked a bit impatient as she leaned forward, clenching her hands against the boulder beneath the wolf's large paws. "Come on, Blaze! I need to know what day that will be! I cannot do nothing without knowing!"

__

"A warrior is always prepared, Firestarter. You know that." And saying no more, the wolf disappeared from her view, leaving her to scowl. 

"Gee, thanks a lot for your help, Blaze!" she muttered, sarcastically. She turned away and headed northward again, back to the palace. So far she only had two basic clues. The Guardians would attack at night, and they would be moving so silently, one would think they were indeed shadows. Still, this was not enough to go by. Time could be running out, and by the time they would learn of the arrival of their enemies, it might be too late to stop them. 


	7. Chapter 7

****

The Past Forgotten

Chapter 7.

Ryo and Cye crept their way toward the palace, keeping low to the ground and their ears and eyes open for any guards that may be about. They could see at least four sentries standing at post every four blocks leading up toward the palace. And they knew somewhere deep inside that building were their friends. They only had to sneak in, free them, and sneak back out before the guards even realize they had been there. And doing that would not be easy. For it seemed the guards were everywhere. And they were highly alert. They kept careful watch as they walked about or stood like statues, their weapons; either spears in their hands, or their swords sheathed at their sides, or their pikes held aloft. 

Ryo knelt down just behind a hedge peering out through an opening. The palace laid about twenty feet before them and was surrounded by at least twenty guards standing alone at the front of the palace. He tried to determine just how to get around to the back where the dungeons most likely were, but with this many guards it may be impossible. Still, he had been through worse situations when he faced the Dynasty with Rowen alone that one day. And this would be no different in his opinion.

Cye was kneeling beside him, also peering through the bush. He counted the guards and grimaced, wondering what idea Ryo may have. Cye wasn't the one to come up with ideas when either rescuing a comrade or going after an enemy. He left that up to either Rowen, Sage, or Ryo. He preferred to follow the others into battles, listening to their plans before taking a course of action. And so far Ryo made no move.

Ryo raised his head up just a bit as he saw a girl with shoulder length brown hair walking toward the guards. He was a little surprised. For the girl was wearing ordinary blue jeans and a white shirt with a red and brown flannel over it. Amazingly enough, the guards actually let her in! 

__

'Now how do you like that?' Cye asked Ryo through their link. They had taken the precaution of not speaking out loud even in whispers for fear the guards would hear them.

__

'She must know the emperor somehow,' Ryo said back in the same manner. '_Otherwise the guards would not let her in so easily.'_

Cye had to agree with Ryo, but now he began to wonder just how much longer they would sit there. Then finally Ryo began to move. He beckoned to Cye to follow him and led the way around the long hedge wall toward the back of the palace. Here there were more guards about. 

Ryo looked toward the end of the wall of the palace and saw a lake which seemed to go around to the east side of the palace. He wondered if perhaps there was a way in through that way. He decided to take the chance. Informing Cye of his idea, the two Ronins carefully made their way toward the lake. 

Half way there one guard thought he saw something or someone sneaking past and he quickly turned around. He saw only an empty area before him. His stern eyes darted back and forth and he ventured forward just a little. He saw nothing. Shrugging his shoulders he returned back to his post.

Both Ryo and Cye let out silent sighs of relief and after a moment's hesitation, continued onward. They reached the lake and peered down into the dark depths of the water. Neither really knew what was in there or just how deep the water was, so Cye was the chosen candidate to test it.

Already in subarmor, he stepped forward into the water, wading out until the water came up to his knees. So far he felt no danger and the water seemed to be welcoming him as it lapped around the lower half of his body. Behind him, Ryo stood waiting and watching. Cye took another step forward and instantly disappeared under the water's surface. 

Alarmed, Ryo dared to step forward, but he held back. He did not sense Cye in danger through their armor link and so decided to wait. 

His patience was rewarded. Cye resurfaced a few feet away from where he had disappeared. He shook his wet hair out of his face and looked toward Ryo. A nod of the head was all Ryo needed. 

He waited for a moment to see if the guards had caught sight of them, but after hearing no other sounds, he moved forward and into the water. Joining Cye, the two Ronins dove under the lake and swam like fish toward the east side of the palace. 

Sage sat alone against the back of the wall with his head down. If one were to look at him they would have compared to him as a poor dog left out in the rain with no shelter. He had his legs stretched out before him and his hands crossed upon his lap as he stared vacantly at the floor. He felt heavily melancholy and doubts that his friends cared about him were flowing through his mind. Normally, he was not like this, but after causing his friends and himself to become prisoners of the emperor, and with being in this cell for the last seven hours, he doubt freedom would ever come. Here it was too dark, and Sage hated the dark. 

It mattered not if the moon would rise up within just a few short hours, for there were no windows in the dungeon and the only light there was, were the glowing torches lined up outside the dungeon halls to give the guards light. Or so he assumed. Little did he know the emperor was not a tyrant. The lights were also for the prisoners to enable them to see as well, but also for the guards to see them in case any attempted escape. 

At the north end of the dungeon, Kento was lying flat on his stomach, arms crossed under his head as a pillow. A soft snore emanated from his mouth. He had fallen asleep about an hour and a half ago and looked almost comfortable there on the floor. Far from the truth. For Kento was having dreams that he would be turned into a slave, made to dig holes in which to bury deceased prisoners. Only the sign of his flinching indicated such discomfort. 

On the southern end, Rowen was curled up, facing the wall. His back and ribs could be seen moving up and down, signifying he was in deep sleep. His sleep was dreamless and he was quite contended where he laid. Actually, while asleep he forgot where he was and what the current situation was. 

Sage let out a shuddering breath as a tear escaped his eye and ran down his cheek until it dripped off his chin and down to his lap. He felt like he was shaking even though he wasn't. He dared to raise his head to look at his comrades. _'How can they sleep so easily?'_ he asked himself. He failed to noticed that Kento was twitching in his sleep. Had he not been so concerned with his own emotions he would have. He lowered his head again, a thought forming in the darkest parts of his mind. _'Maybe they don't care about me.'_

Rowen suddenly snapped awake as soon as he heard that oppressed voice breaking into the back of his mind. _'Maybe they don't care about me.' _Startled, he lifted his head and looked over his shoulder back at Sage. A frown formed on his face and he felt sad. "How can you think that, Sage?" he asked, softly. 

Sage looked toward him now, a bit surprised. "You heard me?" he asked, quietly. Rowen nodded his head, and Sage lowered his head. He felt guilty, but a part of him felt that it was true. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rowen making his way toward him and the moment his friend sat down, he tensed up.

"Sage, you shouldn't think we don't care about you," Rowen stated firmly as he looked directly at his friend. "We've been through some heavy happenings, always there for one another, learning together, fighting side by side, and even against each other. We're like family. A home away from home. We all care about one another and we care about you too. You shouldn't let our imprisonment cause you to think these horrid thoughts."

Sage felt more tears dripping out of his eyes. He wanted to sob right there, but his stubborn pride refused to give permission to him. Instead he allowed them to drip down to his lap as he spoke quietly. "But, I've gotten all three of us into trouble. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Rowen shrugged his shoulders now. "Hey, we're alive, aren't we?" Sage nodded his head as Rowen continued. "And Ryo and Cye are bound to be on their way, knowing Ryo. All we have to do is keep waiting for them to arrive. We'll get out of here soon. We just have to be patient."

"Right now, patience is my worst enemy," Sage said, bitterly. 

Rowen stared at him in dismay. This was not something he was used to. Sage was the calm one of the group, not one who suddenly became irrational. He thought about what to say as Sage sat beside him with his head still bent. Just as it looked like Sage would break down any time, he spoke up. "Sage, think of it this way. You're not alone."

Sage became still, his eyes staring at the same spot as they had been. He allowed Rowen's words to flow through his mind and repeated them silently to himself. Realization came to him as he slowly felt the weight of depression lifting off his shoulders. Rowen was right. He was not alone, and that comforted him more than anything could at this moment. 

He raised his head and looked toward Rowen with a small, genuine smile. "Thanks, Rowen," he said, softly.

Rowen smiled back at him, seeing the familiar twinkle within that violet eye. He was glad to have helped his friend to come back to his senses. It gave him a source of comfort to be able to help when he could.

Kento soon awoke with a groan and both looked toward him. "Have a nice nap, Kento?" Rowen asked him. Kento moaned and shook his head as he sat up. He shook his head with a noticeable shudder. Both Rowen and Sage stared at him in curiosity. 

"I just had the worst nightmare!" Kento groaned as he clenched his fists.

"About what?" Sage asked.

"Don't tell me it was about Talpa!" Rowen exclaimed.

Kento paused and shook his head. "No, it wasn't _that_ bad. No, I dreamt the emperor made me a slave and I had to dig holes to bury dead prisoners." He gave a look of disgust. "I feel cruddy," he said with a wince. 

Rowen frowned, not knowing what to say. Sage shook his head with pity, but then his senses became alert. Immediately his eyes darted toward the bars of their cell, and he sat up on his knees. This caught Kento's and Rowen's attention as they looked toward him.

"What is it?" Rowen asked.

"Shh!" Sage said, still listening.

Kento raised an eyebrow as he wondered what Sage could see or hear. All three of them waited as the silence seemed to close in on them from all sides. So far nothing could be told and for a moment there, Kento wondered if perhaps Sage had only imagined it. He was about to shrug his shoulders and turn away, when two silhouettes dropped down before their door. Now all three prisoners peered at them expectedly. 

One stepped closer to the bars and the light from the torch gave a good view of his face. 

"Ryo!" all three exclaimed in unison. 

"Shh!" Ryo scolded them as he drew one katana blade. "Cye's with me too. We're getting you guys out of here. And Sage, you and I are going to talk."

Sage gulped and ducked down behind Rowen and Kento. He knew he was in deep trouble. 

Ryo stuck the sharp end of his blade through the lock and with a quick twist, broke it in half. The door swung open with a creak. Hesitating, Ryo listened for any unwanted sounds. He heard nothing, but he wasn't satisfied. Looking toward Cye, he waved at him. 

Cye turned and stepped lightly and quickly down the hall, keeping to the shadows. He checked up at one end, seeing only two guards standing with their backs to him, then he checked down at the other end, seeing the two guards in the same position as the first guards. He returned to Ryo.

"All clear," he whispered. 

Ryo pulled the door open further and one by one, the three Ronin prisoners followed Ryo and Cye out of the dungeon and to a small window. Sage climbed out first and landed in shallow water. There was some trouble, however, as Kento got stuck. He struggled to pull himself free, but the more he struggled, the more he got stuck. Ryo gritted his teeth as he wondered how they would free their muscular friend. He knew the guards could come at any given time and if caught, then they would all be arrested. 

Luckily, Rowen spotted some grease like mud and quickly scooped up two handfuls. "Cye, help me!" He made his way toward Kento, and squeezed his hands between Kento's body and the wall and began applying the grease to the wall.

Cye scooped up his own two handfuls and did the exact same to the opposite side of the wall as Ryo and Sage kept a lookout. When the walls had been greased up enough, both Cye and Rowen pushed their friend forward with all their might. Kento grunted and strained, pulling forward to help. He gritted his teeth and with a last ounce of energy, pulled himself through and landed in the lake with a splash!

Ryo felt alarmed as he could now hear footsteps running in their direction. He hissed at the others. Rowen jumped through the window, followed by Cye, and finally by Ryo. All five Ronin Warriors dove under the lake just as four guards appeared. 


	8. Chapter 8

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 8.

Anubis blinked his eyes the moment he and the other Warlords had arrived at the Asian Realm. Startled to find that it looked much like the ancient Chinese cultivation, he peered all about him, taking in the landscape, the foliage, and the buildings. They were just at the head of one village and could see that it was teeming with people. Here the woman worked hard at the rice fields, and men brought in today's catch from sea. 

He knew that not far off was the grand palace where the emperor dwelt. It was there that Talpa believed laid the crystal; the one jewel that would give him much power to gain control over the armors of the Ronins. Glancing at the other Warlords he nodded his head and they began to walk forward. They would need to find this palace and get what they came for, then get back to the Dynasty as quickly as possible. 

The villagers paid little or no attention to them as they walked briskly by. They were too busy with today's work, wanting to get it done before the sun went down. Dinner would be shortly and then after dinner, they would all wash and go to bed for the night. They took their work very seriously, though they did not fret about it. Whatever could not be done that night would be finished tomorrow. 

Dais shield his eyes against the lowering sun and peered out into the distance. This place felt strangely familiar to him, as if he'd been here before. He wasn't positive on it, but flashbacks kept coming back to him and for a moment he could think of nothing else. He followed the others, allowing his eyes to take in the sights. There were so many people here that he could crush with his illusions and just the thought of hearing them scream for mercy made him chuckle to himself.

Cale could hear him quite well as his hearing was the best out of the four of them. He did not ask what Dais was laughing about as his mind wandered over the many buildings they passed by. He could imagine chaos and destruction amongst those buildings and could hear the shrieks of the terrorized people as they ran for shield and safety. He would bring darkness to them all, surrounding them with bitter cold until they begged for death. But it would come all too slowly for them. 

Sekhmet wasn't really thinking of the villagers. His thoughts were more focused on the Ronin Warriors. He knew they were around this realm somewhere. He could sense their power, but could not tell where they were at the moment. His eyes flickered as the inner hope they would run across them surged through his veins. He kept a close watch out though, knowing they could run into those brats at any given time, and he wanted to be more than ready. 

They passed through the village and came out of it and into a meadow. Here a few cattle grazed peacefully as the herdsman kept a close watch on them. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked at something. The Warlords moved on.

Sekhmet looked back at Anubis as the question now came to mind. As Anubis was in charge of this mission, he felt he needed to ask. "How far away is this palace anyway?"

Anubis glanced at him, irritably and shrugged. "I do not know myself, Sekhmet. I only know it's at the most northern part of the realm, and that is in the direction we are heading."

Cale blinked as confusion swirled through his mind. He wondered just how far that was, how much walking they would have to do, and whether or not they could make an easier route of transportation. "Why don't we just teleport there?" he suggested.

Dais rapidly shook his head as he stared hard at Cale. He had a bad feeling about the word teleport, though he could not understand why. His insides seemed to freeze up and he could barely think of anything else, but on insisting they continue to walk. He cast Anubis a side glance of concern, hoping he felt the same way.

Anubis shook his head as he continued to walk. He didn't catch Dais looking fearfully at him, but wisdom told him differently to Cale's suggestion. "No, we cannot teleport. It is too risky. According to Badamon, there are magic spells surrounding the palace that would surely throw us off course if we teleport directly to the castle. Also there are guards there who would be more than ready to fight us if we suddenly showed up. And though we are more powerful than they, we cannot risk using our surekills so close to where the crystal lies. To do so would possibly destroy it."

Cale sighed and only nodded. He felt differently than Anubis, but thought it best not to argue. Instead he kept his disagreement to himself. The four of them continued on through the meadow, paying little attention to the cattle that grazed about them. The smell of hay and straw mingled under their noses. Times like this brought back memories for them. Memories that none of them wish to deal with at this present time. 

Sauntering toward the left way, Anubis was now getting a bit impatient. He caught sight of a worker threshing some bundles of straw and immediately headed in his direction. The other three were close behind and watched with fascination the moment Anubis grabbed the man by the throat and jerked him around. 

The man cried out in fear, dropping his sickle as he stared wide eyed at these men before him. He had never seen such armor before. Their armor rippled with power, their faces were beyond cruel; it was as if the very demons of hell had come to attack him.

"Tell me, little man," Anubis said with a growl, "how far is the palace from here?"

The man trembled in Anubis' grip, unable to answer. Anubis tightened his grip around his throat, causing the man's airways to become constricted. He coughed and gasped. "I will cause you to suffocate if you do not answer me," Anubis warned as he shook him. "How far is the palace?"

"T… te.. ten m…mi..miles from here!" the man quickly stammered. Anubis stared into his eyes relishing in his fear. A cruel smile upon his face as he raised his kurisama. The man's eyes widened in horror, but there was no time to scream. For the Warlord of Cruelty had suddenly thrust the sharp end of his weapon into the man's stomach and quickly yanked it out. Blood poured out from the gaping wound as the intestines slowly seeped out, like snakes crawling from a hole in the ground. Dropping the dead body onto the ground now, he wiped the blood off his weapon and sheathed it against his belt. 

He turned to the others. "Let's go. The more we walk the sooner we arrive to our destination. And so leaving the body behind, the four of them continued on toward the north. 

Tutock's red eyes flared brightly as his impatience to have that power could no longer be contained. He summoned all nine Guardians to him and commanded them to go and carry out his order. Upon receiving that direct command, they bowed and soon teleported away. They appeared just on the outskirts of an eastern village and west of a dark forest where bandits were said to lurk behind the thick trees. 

Knowing they must hurry, Karma took control of the situation immediately. He thought it best they split into groups and each group take a different direction in search of what they sought for. Claw, Razor, and Malice would go east together, then head up by northeast, then northwest. Sin, Suicide, and Cain would go further west, then move down by southwest, then southeast. Surge and Savage would join Karma in going south. Then all of them would meet up in the center and head back up to the north. It would take a lot of walking, but they did not care. They would not stop until they found that power. And so separating right then and there, the nine Guardians headed off in their determined directions. 

Claw looked around the forest that he, Malice, and Razor had entered in. Fleeting wisps of words and wonders unspoken but in dreams came into his mind as he studied the area they were in. Here it was dark with only shadows cast about. There was no sound to be heard, except one's own breathing. He studied the outlines of the dark shapes he knew to be trees and moved stealthily between them. 

Malice kept his eyes focused onto their path as he led the way among the foliage. He knew that somewhere the power lie, ready to be taken and claimed. Though he did not know what type of power this was, he only knew that it had to have been most fascinating for his master to desire so greatly.

Razor followed the other two just as easily through the trees. Each Guardian's years of intensive training came in handy as they allowed their other senses to tell where the great plants were and anything else that stood in their path. Though, Razor had the feeling that something else was amongst them. Something lurking beneath the farthest trees and coming steadily closer to where they walked. His brown eyes narrowed into slits and for a moment he paused as he looked over his right shoulder toward an area where he knew to be a grove of trees. 

Both Claw and Malice turned toward him and looked back at him. "Why did you stop suddenly?" Malice asked him. He could feel nothing out of the ordinary, though he knew at times Razor had a knack for those things. 

"Someone is following us," Razor said, angrily. He never did like anyone to be following directly behind him, especially when it was possible that it could be those bothersome Warriors. His insides curled in disgust as if the very name upon the tip of his tongue was poison. 

Claw stepped a few paces forward and stood very still as he peered closely into the direction that Razor was staring at. He could see silhouettes darting from tree to tree as stealthily as they could be. They weren't the Warriors as was his first guess. For they never moved with such disgrace. He had to chuckle to himself though. This darkened forest could prove to be rather entertaining.

Sin paused for a moment as he and the other two came to two forks in a road. He glanced to the left and then to the right, wondering which road to take. Either road could lead to another village or to some mountains or the sea, or even to the palace. But either one could also lead to danger, though he wasn't really concerned about that. He lived for danger, desired it actually. However, he had to be cautious in this mission. 

Suicide was beside him, glancing from side to side as his patience was wearing thin. His arms were stuck down at his sides like an army general's as he tried to determine which way to go. He could not decide which way would be best, and he knew that whatever he chose one or both of his comrades would argue with him. Still he felt he needed to be in charge of their group, so whatever he chose would go. The problem was, he could not decide. 

Cain was staring at both paths. Now that he was on a mission, he was serious. One path may lead to the power they sought for, the other path could lead elsewhere. Still they needed to choose, for if they did not, then they would get no where. He looked back at the two older Guardians, questionably. "Which way do we go?" he asked.

Sin and Suicide both looked at one another, then back at him. Neither were about to let him choose as that could have been their upcoming disaster. Turning back to the fork, they continued to study it. Finally, Suicide could wait no more. 

"We go to the left," he said.

Sin's eyes narrowed angrily. "What do you mean the left?!" he argued. "Must we take the left just because you choose it? I don't frigging think so! I say we go to the right!"

Suicide stepped closer to the man and glared dangerously at him. He never liked to be confronted and Sin had better learn to yield in his opinion, otherwise there would be hell to pay. "I am in charge of this group, and we will do as I say. We go left or else."

Sin cussed at him and spat at his feet and turned away from him. He refused to follow the stuck up Guardian and made a point in proving it. He wanted to go his way and now as he thought about it, the left fork didn't feel right to him. As a street hood, he had learned the ways of telling which road to take to get somewhere, leaving the most obvious roads behind as they could always lead into traps. 

Cain sighed heavily and backed away from them. He did not want to see them fight, and closed his eyes to block it out. For now he could hear nothing, but the thick friction of the air surrounding them. Finally, he heard Suicide.

"Fine!" the Guardian of Suffering spat back. "Go your way! Cain, you will come with me!"

"Good, take the retard," Sin snapped. "I'll go by myself." And he turned and stomped off down the right fork of the road.

Cain blinked as he watched him go, then reluctantly followed Suicide to the left fork. Sweat poured down from his forehead as his breathing increased in its labor. Suicide seemed so sure of himself that Cain had no choice but to follow behind. But even as he kept close to his fellow Guardian, he had a bad feeling. Something did not seem right. 

Karma, Savage, and Surge came to a set of tall mountains whose peaks were snowcapped and seemed to reach to the skies. Nodding his head at the other two, he moved onward and they followed him. They passed through thick fields of vegetation, ignoring the long rows of rice and wheat as the mountains slowly became closer and closer to them. As they walked on, they could see a group of men and women huddled together in one spot several feet to their left. The whimpering that came from the pathetic forms told the Guardians that something dreadful must have happened. 

Savage looked more closely at the group of people and he saw the blood on the ground. His eyes lit up and he wondered who could have been responsible for such a feat. Turning his head back again, he continued to follow the other two in silence. 

Surge kept close by Karma as he wondered at what they may find at those mountaintops. So far he had noticed that no other human being seemed to pay any attention to them, nor the fact that three armored men were walking amongst their growing food. For a moment he looked around for some grapes, wishing he could steal some to make his own wine, but seeing only rice and wheat, that idea quickly left him. 

Before long they came to the foot of the mountains and peered up at them. The mountain side was sheer and flat and smooth. The nearest ledge was at least twelve feet above their heads, and they would have to jump just to reach it. An easy task indeed. Karma crouched down, then quickly springing upward, his hand grasped the edge of the ledge, and he swung himself up onto it. 

Surge quickly followed in the same manner, and then Savage. The three of them continued to climb the mountain, leaping from ledge to ledge, pulling themselves up, and circling around bends as the mountains continued to tower above them. Somewhere way above toward the right side, they could see a large cave. It was through this cave they plan to enter.

About halfway up, Karma paused and looked out over the area. He could see many features of the realm below. There were several villages, at least five of them in all directions of south, east, north, and west. He could see a palace at the northern end, and he could also vaguely see three armored men heading in that direction. He could see men, women, and children, workers, and guards going to and fro in all directions, and some just standing still.. Though he could not see the other Guardians.

Savage looked at him now. "What are you doing?"

"Surveying," the Guardian of Deception replied. "I see many things but not our comrades."

Surge frowned slightly. This wasn't good. If Karma could see everything else below them, why not the others? "How do you think they are?" he asked.

"I hope for their sake, they are fine. I do not care about their wellbeing usually, but as we are all on a mission, it is important they are not injured or captured." Karma narrowed his eyes, then sighed deeply as he turned away from his looking. "Let's go." 

The two of them followed after him, climbing higher and higher. At last they reached the mouth of the cave and entered inside. 


	9. Chapter 9

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A Forgotten Past

Chapter 9. 

Thunder had awakened from his nap and felt semi better, but other matters pressed against him. He had been having strange feelings all afternoon and the dream he had had did not make it much better. His dream had been rather hazy as if he had been walking through a fog, hearing people crying out. Shaking the dream from his mind he stood up and stretched the stiffness out of his joints. 

He let out a yawn afterward, then decided to leave the room and see if he could find Flash and Scorpio. He felt that a practice was in order and as second in command of the Warriors, he could bring up such matters to Flash. Whether she would agree or not remained to be seen. He left his room. Walking up the hall of the eastern side of the palace he passed many guards on either sides of the hall, standing at each pillar. He paid little attention to them, but they were watching him. As of now, these guards weren't sure what to make of these strangers so they would watch them vigilantly until they could prove themselves worthy. 

He came to the end of the hall and turned to the left, heading westward now. There he bumped into the same cat as he had earlier that day. "You again?"

The cat known as Sawa sat on his haunches and looked intently up at him. Thunder stared down at him for a few minutes, then finally knelt down and scratched under the chin. "You seem to like me a lot and I cannot figure out why."

The cat only purred in return before standing up and trotting off down the hall. Thunder stood and watched him go. Then he turned around and started to walk up the hall again when the priestess of the emperor came from around the corner. Both of them stopped and stared at one another, before Thunder shyly and nervously lowered his eyes to the floor and turned his head to one side.

The priestess studied him as if she was trying to figure him out. She shook her head. "You have nothing to fear from me. I have heard of how you are shy of women you do not know of. I wish you to know I mean no ill will to you. I am a priestess of the emperor and would not think of such hideous acts."

Thunder turned his head back to her. He would not speak just yet, but he would listen now. Taking a closer look at her, he waited for her to continue. 

Now that she had his attention, she could address her thoughts to him. Ever since her messenger had come back to her she had felt troubled, and now she had wished to speak to this boy alone. She needed to clear her conscious of all the plaguing thoughts pounding against her mind. "Would you walk with me? I like to speak with you if you do not mind."

Thunder hesitated, but then figured it wouldn't hurt anything. He nodded his head and walked with her back down the very hall he had recently walked from. For a moment both were silent as if an unnatural air was above them, causing them to feel uneasy with one another's presence. Finally the silence broke.

"Where do you come from originally?" the priestess asked him.

Thunder was a little surprised at this and he almost hesitated with his answer. But then, figuring it was just a harmless question, he spoke and for the first time to her since he had come to the palace. "I was born in Germany, on a fishing boat out on the sea actually."

"I see, and what city or what sea was this Germany in?" the priestess asked him.

He answered that one immediately. "Germany is another country on the realm Earth. It is surrounded by other countries and several towns and of seas. The ship I was born on was called the North Sea. Though oftentimes those who aren't geographically correct would confuse the North Sea with another sea since there are several of them throughout the world."

The priestess nodded and continued to walk on in silence. Her head was down as she stared at the marble texture deep in thought. She wasn't sure of what to make of all this. Everything just seemed so confusing and yet she knew the truth of it all. She had been mediating and studying for hours on end. There was no way she could be mistaken. 

Thunder was now curious himself as he wondered why she would bother herself to ask him where he was born. Why should she even care? Did she not have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment? "Why did you want to know anyway?" he asked her.

The priestess sighed, lifting her eyes to the ceiling as if she were trying to avoid the question. "I was only curious, that is all."

Thunder felt more suspicious now and he wasn't about to let her walk off without knowing why. "Had you been curious you could have asked me anytime before hand."

She stared at him long and hard, and then turned and began to walk away again. Thunder followed her. This time he wanted answers. "You're hiding something from me. Why won't you tell?"

"Oh, I know I should, but I do not believe I can," she replied, uneasily. 

"Why not?" Thunder pressed on.

The priestess stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced him. Looking up directly into his visible right eye, she spoke, slowly and clearly. "Well, because you belong here."

Thunder's eyes widened and he immediately took a step backward. He could not believe she would dare lie to his face. How could she? And better yet, why did she? At first confusion flew through his head, but then it was placed by anger in his veins. He remained calm through it all, but he felt he was shaking inside. He had to find out more just so he could prove to her she was wrong. "What do you mean? I don't belong here. I've never even heard of this place before!"

The priestess stared at him as she continued. "It is true. Your origin is of here. Your family history, your birth, all of it here."

Thunder shook his head violently. He could not believe he was hearing of this! Why him?! "And how do you know this? What proof could you possibly have?"

"The proofs are in the library. Go there and read them to your heart's satisfaction," she answered. "I must go now. Excuse me."

Thunder watched her go, unable to think or speak. He felt the confusion pressing hard against him, wrapping him up like chains. He wanted to shrug off her words and walk away. And yet he could not. He had to get to that library. So turning he began to walk, searching for this library. He ended up getting lost after two or three missed turns, then he asked a male servant where it was.

"Go back the way you came from and make a right. Follow that hallway up to about three doors. It is the middle doors, the two main golden ones with the brass handles."

Thunder thanked him and hurried off in that direction. Upon entering the library, he noticed that it was void of any sign of life. That was fine with him. He went over to a bookcase where he was looking at several scrolls of records. He carefully searched through each one, grateful that Master Chinook had taught them all the basis of the language and writing skills of the Asian people for this realm. Otherwise he would have never understood the lettering of the titles.

On and on he searched through the scrolls until he came at last to a completely different section altogether. Here in this new section of scrolls were the scrolls of history. Reading the dates of each one, he came to the year that he was born in. He grabbed this scroll and carried it over to a table where he unrolled it and spread it out on the table, before he sat down. Reading from the very top, he saw what the jinwen inscriptions had to say of the year 1985. Fifteen years ago. 

'_A son had been born to Emperor Kwang Sun and Empress Cheau during the hour of midnight. They called him Sun Tai. The child was a wild one, always running and getting himself into trouble. He would often hide himself in baskets of laundry and worry his parents and his elder sisters. The child's features were unique however, and it was rather amazing of how he could have come from the empress herself. Though, I, Shen, had believed that this son was the fulfillment of a Prophecy. For I have studied the writings of the advisors before me and found them to be accurate many times. When it became midnight on an Autumn's summer eve on the nineteenth, a child with hair the color of the sun had been born. It was unlike any child we have ever heard of. The emperor was a bit concerned about the wheat colored hair, but also concerned of the patch the infant wore against his left eye. The physician had told him though the child's right eye was a light blue in color, the left eye was too bright to be looked into. For upon the child's birth, he had been blinded temporarily by looking into that one eye. It did amaze me how he had been able to place such a patch over the eye, but I imagined that he did while holding the child out in front of him, with his back facing him. There is the other matter with a birthmark upon the child's left shoulder. For it appears in the shape of a cross and a two way axe and is no bigger than an inch.'_

Thunder stopped reading as he sat there in disbelief. How could this be? This had to be a terrible dream. No, none of this was real! It was just coincidence. Surely, the son of the emperor and empress was around somewhere wasn't he? Perhaps he had left on business and would return in a few days. It surely was not him they spoke of. Satisfied he continued to read on.

__

'It was a terrible night two years later that took the young prince from us. It was in the month of September, one month and three days after his second birthday. Empress Cheau had placed the boy to bed for the night, then had gone to bed with her husband. The next morning we had discovered that his crib was empty. Thinking he had somehow learned how to climb out of the crib we searched for him. Not finding him anywhere inside the palace, Emperor Kwang Sun sent out guards to search outside, fearing that his son had been kidnapped. The child was never found. Now to this day, he is without an heir.'

Thunder could not read anymore. He sat there as if in a daze. This was absurd. This child was born the same time he was, had the same physical features as he did, did not mean anything at all. And yet, for some reason he was beginning to doubt himself. Thinking back to his parents, he remembered when he was five years old how he had asked them why there were no newborn photographs of him. They could never answer him. And they also told he was a gift from God, but they never told him his mother Hannah had actually given birth to him. 

A tremor started upside him suddenly. He could feel it building against him, ready to be released as if the tectonic plates of the earth were grinding against one another, sending out seismic waves of energy. Hurrying to roll the scroll back up, he quickly stood and thrust it carefully back into its place on the shelf. Then feeling as if he was going to break anytime now, he turned and fled from the library. And the earthquake came. He was shaking nonstop, a flood of tears trailed relentlessly down his cheeks, his throat became sore from wanting to sob out loud.

He ran past guards and hand maidens and other servants of the palace. They all watched him go by, but then turned back to their duties. Thunder ignored them as well and continued on. He had to get away from everyone and that meant somehow getting outside. 

He rounded a corner and immediately slammed into a larger person. Staggering back he tried to keep his balance but nearly fell on his butt. A strong hand came out and grabbed him by an arm and another supported his back and prevented him from falling. Thunder stood there, shaking like a leaf.

"And what is the matter with you?"

He gasped silently as he heard the familiar voice of the emperor. Lifting his head he stared into his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but unable to. "I.. I.. I don't know.. Something I read upset me.. It doesn't make sense!"

The emperor cocked an eyebrow at him as he wondered what the boy was babbling about. He sighed heavily as he could see the boy was not going to give him a direct answer. "Perhaps you should go outside by the pavilion. Go there and calm yourself. For if you are upset as you are, you will not speak clearly the way you want to."

Thunder nodded his head, having planned to go there anyhow. He turned away from the emperor and immediately headed outside. 

The emperor watched him go, shaking his head to himself. He wasn't sure what to make of the boy's outburst, but he decided he would deal with it later. There was still the pressing matter of meeting the General in the throne room. He began to walk up the hallway again, when he heard the sound of running feet and a shout behind him.

"Your majesty!" came a cry from one of his imperial guards, "the prisoners have escaped!"

The emperor turned around immediately, his eyes blazing with anger. "Find them all!"

The guards saluted and ran to carry out his orders. Satisfied they could do their job without further guidance, he headed to the throne room and entered inside. He sat down on his throne beside the place where his wife sat.

"Rough day for you?" she asked him.

He snorted. "Rough is not the word for it. How soon comes the General?"

The empress faced the front as she replied. "He should be here within fifteen minutes according to the position of the sun."

The emperor nodded and began to wait. About five minutes later the doors opened and both royals had thought the General had come early. Looking toward the open doors he was disappointed to find it was just one of his servants. "What is it?"

The servant bowed before answering. "Your majesty, I thought you would like to know that Kovuso has been rather clumsy again."

The emperor sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes. Why was he not surprised? He counted to a hundred slowly before telling the man to send the boy in. The servant bowed and stepped out for a moment. Not long afterward a rather lanky boy entered into the room. The boy was but fifteen years of age with black hair just cut to the base of his neck. The front half of his bangs were raised up on either side of his face, then curled back just above his ears. His eyes were a chocolate brown and always full of life and laughter. 

He approached the thrones and immediately prostrated himself before the emperor. "Forgive me, your majesty!" the boy cried out. "I did not mean to break your dishes! For the fiftieth time!"

The emperor sighed heavily as if he had been dealt a terrible blow against his position. Why did these things always happen to him? "Why do I put up with you?" he asked the boy.

Kovuso's answer came immediately. "Because I was an orphan with no where to go, and you felt sorry for me and took me in." He paused as if considering something in the back of his mind. He looked up sheepishly. "Ah, this is starting to become a bit rhetorical, don't you think?"

The emperor rolled his eyes as if he was disgusted with the boy. He covered his face with one hand as he thought about what he could do with him. 

The empress spoke up from her side of the dais. "Just forgive him, dear. He can clean the stables as punishment."

A guard immediately spoke up. "Ah forgive my interruption, your majesties, but the last time we had the boy in the stable, he frightened all the horses!"

Kovuso let out a sheepish grin as he dared to raise his head slightly. "So no stables then?"

The emperor stared at him hard as if he was considering on squashing a bug before him. His eyes narrowed and for a moment there was a strange silence in the air that seemed rather thick. Finally he broke the silence. "Bathroom cleaning as punishment."

Kovuso wept openly, but not because he was upset about his punishment. Rather he was glad of it. He bowed several times before his majesty, repeating himself over and over. "Thank you! Thank you!"

The emperor waved him off. "Go and do not leave it until you are finished." He watched as Kovuso rose to his feet, then disappear through the doors. He sighed heavily to himself. The door opened again and this time a messenger came and bowed before him.

"Sire, Kamalus is on his way."

The emperor nodded, gravely. "Good. Send him in the moment you see him enter the palace doors."

The messenger nodded, bowed again, and departed. The emperor and the empress continued to wait. 

A/N: You may be wondering why I consider this AU for my own character. There is a reason for that. In my original series the Warriors, Thunder was originally born on a traveling boat at Sea in Germany. However, later on I had changed him to that of being a lost son to the King and Queen of Germany. In my RPG with a good friend of mine, whose name is Cleo, we had Thunder the lost son of the Emperor and Empress of an Asian realm. This is why I consider this story AU in a manner of speaking. Also, I came up with the name of the empress, Cheau, because Cleo could not think of what to name her at the time. So it shall be Cheau in this fic until I'm told otherwise. Thanks. ^^


	10. Chapter 10

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 10.

Ryo was the first to surface the lake and to drag himself onto dry land. He was coughing several times and his lungs burned from within. He felt as if his power had died down from that small amount of time being under the water and perhaps it did so. For fire and water often do not mix. Gaining his strength back, he stood up and watched silently as the others came up beside him. All were drenching wet and shivering cold. All except Cye. But that was no surprise. Cye was the bearer of the Torrent armor so it would have natural for him to look just fine. Despite the blue aura he was giving off. 

Sage wrung out his wet hair and let out a long sigh as he tried to smooth it back into place. He hated it when his hair was straight and hanging limp. But now was not the time to be worrying about his hair. He knew that Ryo needed to speak with him and he dreaded what would come of that. He tried not to think about it, but there was no escaping the worries hidden in the back of his mind. 

Kento was wringing his shirt out, saying nothing for the time being, but his thoughts held him captive. He could understand why Sage had followed the princess. She was a total babe. It was too bad the people here didn't have a phone system. He would have asked for her phone number. Then again Sage would probably get to her first. He was always getting the girls first. Kento was so envious of him that often he tried to think of ways to beat him at his own game of dating chicks. So far nothing came to his mind. 

Rowen took off his headband and wrung it around several times. He never did like his headband to be wet. It didn't feel good to have something wet and icky pressing against his forehead. It was mainly there to keep his hair in place and to keep the sweat from dripping down off his hair. To say the least, Rowen sweated a lot and often his hair would be drenched with it. So he wore the headband to keep the sweat from dripping onto his face. It wouldn't do much work though if it was wet. 

Cye wrung out his hair and smoothed it back. He didn't really care that he was wet. In fact he quite enjoyed it. While everyone else was trying to get themselves dried off, he waited patiently for them. Taking a look around himself he saw they were in what looked to be a small almost park like setting. He could see two stone benches sitting across from one another with flowers growing up along side them, and a trail leading into a set of woods. He stared into the woods wondering where they led to and whether or not they would go through them. A bird called overhead above him and he watched it as the crow flew past him. He shuddered. A crow always signified death to him. It was unnerving to say the least. 

By the time everyone was ready to get moving, Ryo was the first to speak. "Okay, now that we're all together again, let's make for the woods and beyond that. I believe these woods may be known as the Chu Ni Woods if my memory serves me correctly."

Rowen peered through the thick trees with a hand over his eyes. He didn't want to say anything to Ryo, but he felt a bad feeling down in the pit of his stomach. He turned away from them and glanced back at Ryo. "Ryo, I'm not sure about these woods. They look dangerous to me. Isn't there another way we can take?"

Ryo shook his head, standing firm. "I'm afraid not, Rowen. The whole entire empire is probably looking for you, Sage, and Kento. Our only option is to go through the woods."

Sage groaned. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but being the warrior of light, he despised the darkness. Still, if Ryo said there was no other way, he would have to keep his mouth shut and go along. Besides, they weren't going to spend the entire day in the woods. At least he hoped not. 

Ryo was the first to enter the woods, followed by Kento, then by Sage, then Rowen, then finally Cye. The five Ronins kept close to each other, making sure no one took a wrong turn. The woods were very dark, but they had no trouble seeing each other, nor sensing one another's armor power. They could feel an ominous presence in these woods and wondered what it was from. Each one was alert and always tense. It wasn't like anything they hadn't felt before though. The Dynasty War they had fought in had been much worse, but they could feel eyes staring at them from every direction. Behind every tree there lurked the possibility of an attacker in hiding. There was no sound from within, not even the rustle of a leaf, and not the sound of an animal. It was an eerie feeling and it made them feel cold to their bones.

Sage wasn't feeling too well from these woods. He could think of nothing else, but seeing the sun again. This darkness felt as if it was suffocating him and he longed to turn about and run back the other way. The dungeon of the emperor was sweet bliss compared to this. But with Rowen beside him, that was a fat chance. So instead he forced himself to continue on.

Cye bit his lip as he kept a careful watch about him. He didn't like these woods any better than Sage. Twice he had thought he had seen moving shadows running across his vision somewhere between the trees, but he thought it was just a trick of his eyes. He shook his head, berating himself, though deep down inside he was certain he had seen something, or perhaps somebody. He thought about telling Ryo, but then decided that Ryo might have seen the same thing he did. But if so, wouldn't Ryo have mentioned it? 

Kento didn't mind being in the dark woods. He had other things on his mind, such as keeping an eye out for anyone who may have thought to hide somewhere to attack. Who knew when those Warlords would show their ugly faces? He would be ready whether or not he needed to be. Besides his alertness, he was also feeling hungry and wondered just when they would be able to stop and eat. He could go for some chow mien noodles at this time now. It was one of his favorite dishes and his stomach rumbled at the thought of it. 

Rowen kept glancing everywhere about him, not liking the feeling he had. It was growing stronger with each passing moment and with each step they took. The woods felt foreboding, as if they did not belong there. He jerked his head suddenly to the left and froze in his tracks. "What the…?!"

The others halted and turned back to look at him. Confusion were on their faces as they wondered what Rowen had seen. Ryo was the first to speak. "What's wrong, Rowen?

"I thought I saw something," Rowen replied, still looking in the same direction.

"What?" Cye asked. He wondered if perhaps Rowen had seen the same thing he had. For a moment he held his breath.

"Something white.. I think it was a wolf."

"A wolf?" Kento scoffed. "Come on. There's no wolves in this part of the realm!"

"Don't be so sure, Kento," Sage said with an air of disagreement. Cleo herself said there were many wolves upon this realm and one can find them almost everywhere if they're lucky enough."

Kento shrugged, saying nothing to argue the matter. Ryo watched Rowen for a few minutes longer, but it appeared whatever Rowen did see was gone now. So he told the others to move on, and the five of them continued their journey through the darkened woods. 

Razor smirked as he could see the ones who were following Claw, Malice, and himself were nothing more than a pack of bandits. And what a pitiful sight it was indeed. For the moment the bandits had dared to rob them, they were met with a quick retaliation. He grabbed the first bandit to come near him and with a quick jerk of his hand broke the bandit's neck and let him drop to the ground. He did a roundhouse kick against another bandit, catching him right in the stomach. The bandit went sailing back until he hit the trunk of a tree and slid motionless to the ground. 

Malice backed away from his attacker, then dropping down, he swept one leg behind the bandit's ankles, tripping him. A quick punch to the jaw knocked the bandit out. He quickly leapt to his feet again and grabbed another bandit and threw him over his left shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The next bandit to come near him quickly went flying back with Malice doing a hammer throw maneuver against him. 

Claw leapt into the air and threw his legs out on either side of his body, kicking two bandits at the same time. He landed on the ground again, then pummeled his fists against the face of another, driving him back. With one last punch to the forehead, the bandit slumped to the ground, out cold. He quickly turned and deflected a knife blow, then gave the attacker an uppercut under the chin. The bandit went sailing back and landed curled up on the ground.

The fight did not take long, only about five minutes. But in the end, every bandit that had dared to attack the three were now all lying on the ground, either dead or unconscious. The three Guardians continued on their way through the woods, unhampered. Though the fight put them all in better spirits, they were now more than willing to keep searching for this power their master so desired, and they would not stop until they had found it. 

The further they walked though, the more eerie the woods seemed. They weren't afraid of these woods, only cautious. And with every reason to be. They had no idea of what other dangers lurked in these parts. There could be traps for all they knew. But that wouldn't stop them. 

They were passing between two giant oak trees when Razor suddenly stopped again. His eyes narrowed as he looked back over his shoulder. Malice and Claw stared at him again. This time Malice was a bit more than frustrated.

"Now what?!" he barked.

"I hear someone coming," Razor replied with a growl.

"Probably more of those bandits," Claw suggested. "They obviously didn't learn their lesson from the last bout we had with them."

Razor shook his head firmly. "I don't believe them to be bandits. No, it's someone else."

"Who then?" Malice demanded to know.

Razor did not know. He could feel a type of energy coming closer and closer and it wasn't like anything he'd ever felt before. He didn't know what to make of it. It did not feel too good at this time, and he highly doubted it was on their side. So what should he do? Should he insist to his comrades to stay with him and see what this energy was, or should they keep on moving? He knew it was not the Warriors for their energy was much different than what he was feeling right now.

"Razor!" Malice snapped impatiently. It wasn't like him to become so impatient, but he wanted to hurry and get this job done. He had plans to tend to the moment he got home and he didn't want to waste time just standing there.

"I don't know," Razor said at last. "But whatever it is it's not on our side."

Claw peered through the woods. He could feel a trace of what Razor was feeling now and he too felt a foreboding presence. He shook his head. "I think we should keep moving. We don't know what this force we feel is capable of. I suggest we take no chances until the proper time."

Razor nodded silently. He wanted to stay and confront this energy, but Claw was right. And besides they had their mission to complete.

Malice said nothing, but began to lead the way again. He kept a careful watch on Razor, trying to see whether or not he would sense something again. At times it was good to have the Guardian of Despair with them. At other times it was a mere pain. 

By the time they could see an opening in the woods they found themselves near a tiny village where there were shops of foods and a small eatery where one could eat. But they still had come no closer to finding that power source. Now Razor was beginning to wonder if what he had felt back there had been what they had been seeking. If it was, then they would have to turn back and look for it again. But if it wasn't they would need to continue on with their search. As of now he was wondering how the other Guardians were faring. Not that he cared or anything. He only wanted the glory all for himself. And he was determined to get it one way or another. 

Anubis halted suddenly when he came to a three road crossway. He smirked to himself when he read the sign of the road. To the west laid the Chun Ni Woods, to the east laid the Yang Yong woods, and ahead of them in the distance laid the palace. They were nearly there. Nodding his head at the other three, the four of them continued on. They passed a few other people, but did not speak to them. The people gave them odd looks, but said nothing either. 

The walk was a long one. By the time they had reached the end of it, they could see the palace was less than eight blocks from them. 

"We're nearly there," Sekhmet said. "We can imagine that there will be guards there."

"Bah!" Dais said with a sneer. "Merely child's play to battle against them. Though I should rebuke myself. For we do not know what these guards are capable of."

"We can be sure that the battle we may have will not be easy," Cale said with a frown. "Still, it would give more than a meaning of a just fight if you know what I mean."

"Or an unfair fight you mean," Anubis said with a smirk. Cale smirked back. Anubis had read him quite well. Where the guards would attack in numerous amounts they would repel back with their surekills if they needed to. There would be no taking any chances in this assignment. 

They continued on their way, keeping themselves tensed for the moment to come. So far nothing had happened and they had seen no pesky Ronin Warrior. Then at last they came to an archway. It was through this archway they would reach the palace; now only five feet from them. But first they would need to take care of the eight guards that kept watch here.

Cale was the first to strike out. He brought his nodatchi down in a fiery cut, slicing the throat of one guard. The remaining guards let out cries of surprise and quickly leapt to attack Cale. 

Dais jumped up, swinging his weapon around where he caught two guards with it, one under the chin, the other between the legs. Both men went down just as quickly as they dared to attack. Cale quickly took care of one more guard, knocking him out with a quick thrust of the end of his blade against the forehead and with a kick to the stomach. 

Two more guards were ousted by Sekhmet as he inflict some of his poison on them. They curled up on the ground, writhing in agony and moaning pathetically, wishing that death would come to them. But Sekhmet did not kill them. Like Anubis, he could be cruel as well. 

Anubis took out the remaining two guards. These two had been a little more tough to beat though. For when one struck with a frontal assault the other would strike from behind. Anubis had a few bruises on him, and his temper was growing with each second that passed. Finally, he began to throw the chain of his kurisama about him. The two guards tried to avoid it, but the chain soon wrapped around their ankles and tied them together tightly. He jerked on the end of it, and the two guards fell to the ground. A quick slash against the foreheads one at a time quickly ended their lives. The four Warlords then walked on through the archway and toward their final destination. 


	11. Chapter 11

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 11.

Sin continued on the path that he had chosen to take alone. It was more peaceful this way without Suicide and Cain with him. He preferred to be alone at any rate. It gave him more time to think and focus as well. He could hear the birds singing to one another, but that didn't bother him. A grim smile came to his face as he wondered just what type of power his master was seeking. Tutock didn't say much about the power, only that if he could control it then the Warriors would be destroyed. Well, except for one. But there was no time to think about that. 

Up ahead on the road he could see a few people coming in his direction. A smirk came upon his face. One of them was bound to be carrying some money on them. And he needed money, or rather wanted it. Need was such a strong word. He didn't exactly need it, because anything he wanted, he got it with a five finger discount. 

He was approaching the group now, but he acted as if he wasn't alert to their presence. He could see the one in front. She was a pretty young girl and Claw would be falling head over heels if he saw her. She had long cascading black hair, her eyes were a violet color and sparkled like a thousand diamonds. Still Sin had no reason to allow himself to be attracted to her. He didn't want a girlfriend at this time now. Especially when he had a job to do. So he would just see if she had something on her, and whether or not she did, he would be on his way. 

The moment he was passing by her he slid his hand toward her. A moment of an instant passed when the two walked by each other. The girl would never know that she had just been robbed. 

Sin continued walking on his way as he counted out two hundred Yuan. A smile came upon his lips. It felt good to be thieving again. He would find some type of use for this change. He put it into his pocket and continued his journey. 

By the time he reached the end of the road he saw there was a small town before him. Glancing at the sign he saw that he was in the Wai Woo town. The town didn't look to be much. He could see several houses standing in rows of two with thatch roofs and open windows with no glass. A fly buzzed around his head and he swatted at it, but he missed and the stubborn fly came back to annoy him again. 

Irritated he swatted at it again and this time struck the fly, sending it flying into one of the buildings where it smacked against the wall of the house. Satisfied he moved onward. A look of disgust came upon his face. Who could live like this? he wondered. He could see nothing of value in this town. No stereo, no television. It was a nightmare. 

He began to walk faster, hoping to get away from the town before he threw up at the sight of it. He would get back to the mission at hand and seek out that power. He wanted to find the power and see himself rise to new heights. And so with that exciting thought in his head he continued onward. 

Suicide was not sure just how much longer he could take of Cain's whining. The youngest Guardian had been complaining nonstop ever since they had left Sin, and it was getting on his nerves. He was tempted to throw him to the ground and kick his mouth just to shut him up. But orders from both Tutock and Karma prevented him from lashing out as he so desired. 

It had been nearly fifteen minutes and the sun seemed to be getting lower and lower. A long sigh came from deep within as he wondered just how much more crap he would have to put up with in order to find that power. He would have rather been paired up with another Guardian. Perhaps Malice or even Razor for that matter. Even the drunkard Surge would have done better than this. He cringed inwardly, but still kept his stiff posture as Cain continued to whine.

"My feet hurt and I'm cold! How much farther is it? Are we there yet? I'm hungry, Suicide! We didn't bring anything to eat! Are we going to starve? I don't want to starve!" 

On and on the complaints continued causing Suicide to shudder and to growl in annoyance. Finally the Guardian of Suffering could take no more. With an enraged growl he snatched Cain by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward. "If you don't shut up this instant I will rip your tongue out, do you understand?!"

Cain's blue eyes widened as he stared speechlessly at the bigger and older Guardian. He nodded with tears of fright in his eyes. He spoke no words now for fear that Suicide would indeed make good on his promise. 

Satisfied that he had at last gotten through to him, the Guardian of Suffering set him down and began to walk again. Behind him, Cain was following, however he was walking as if he was a duck. At first Suicide hadn't noticed as he continued on. It wouldn't be long before the power his master so desired would be found. And he kept telling himself that, for he was certain they were getting closer to it. 

But then he heard whimpering behind him and whirled around. Cain was standing there with his legs crossed in front of one another and was leaning forward. A pathetic whimper escaped from his throat. 

Suicide let out a long sigh of helplessness. "Now what?" Cain did not answer. "Answer me, you bumbling idiot!"

"I have to go!" Cain whined frantically.

Suicide rolled his eyes. "Then go and get back here!"

And Cain took off for a nearby tree. Suicide sighed heavily. He hadn't meant to scare him _that _bad. 

Karma, Savage, and Surge had finally reached the mouth of an open cave. Inside they could feel the wind going into the cave, then coming back out again, making the cave seem as if it was whistling an ghostly tune. Still this did not bother the three of them. Karma entered first, followed by Surge, and then Savage. The three kept close together, but not too close. The cave was a little dark, so Savage brought out his lighter and lit it, then held the flame up at eye level. 

The cave was wide open with a few stalactites hung overhead from the roof of the cave and stalagmites were situated in various places on the floor. Without Savage's little flame of light, they would have surely injured themselves sooner or later. Though the flame would not stay lit for ever. A few times it threatened to go out, and Savage would have to block the wind by placing his palm around the flame. 

They continued onward though. The more they walked the sooner they would find the ending of this cave and be out of it. Hopefully it would lead them exactly where they wanted to be. 

The wind was now feeling more faint and Savage's lighter's flame continue to blaze without fear of being put out suddenly. It was more easier to see now and the stalagmites were now fanning out several apart from one another. So far their trek seemed to given them no worries whatsoever and for that they were glad. 

But then good luck does not always give itself so graciously to one or more. For at that moment Surge suddenly sneezed. 

The two other Guardians ignored him as they continued on their way, but then Karma thought he heard something. A quick look up told him there was immediate trouble. For the stalactites were shaking from above. Bits of dusts and pebbles of rocks came crashing down to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked at the other two Guardians. "RUN!" he commanded. The two ran forward with Karma in the lead. The light from Savage's lighter quickly went out, surrounding them in total darkness. The only sounds heard were the falling of the stalactites and the running of booted feet. 

Flash was feeling hungry now and she wandered the long halls in search of the kitchen. She kept her memories of the brief visit she had with Blaze in the back of her mind, but wondered still at what he meant by that. She kept going over it several times in her head, but came no closer to solving it. 

She finally reached the kitchen with the help of a hand maiden. Looking inside she saw the cook stirring something in a large pot on the stove. For a moment she stared at the stove. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was rounded in shape, pitch black with a heart of fire in the opening in the middle, and on top of it were claw like fixtures to which flames sprouted through beating softly against the ends of several pots and pans all cooking at the same time. The aroma of delicious cooking hit her nose and her stomach growled in anticipation. 

The cook turned to look at her and he smiled. "Ah, you are hungry, yes? I hear your stomach from here."

Flash laughed and came even closer. "What are you making?" she asked.

"I make congee for the night will be chilly to say the least."

Flash nodded her head, then politely asked if she could have some. 

"Certainly. But I feed the emperor and his family first. You can wait, can you not?" he glanced back at her with an eyebrow raised. Flash nodded her head and he smiled. "Good. Then come back in one hour."

"Thank you," Flash replied graciously, and then took her leave. An hour wasn't so bad to wait. She could wait that long. Besides it gave her time to think about the nine Guardians and what to do about them. Time was running out and she still had no plan formed in her head. Blaze's words continued to run through her head and she felt frustrated at not being able to understand the mystical wolf's words. Sighing, she decided to find Scorpio and Thunder. Perhaps one of them could figure out what the wolf meant. 

She strolled down the halls of the palace and passed through several archways. Turning a corner she nearly collided with someone, but stopped just in time. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize anyone was coming around here," she said.

The young girl who looked to be a few years older than Flash smiled sweetly at her. "It's quite all right. I should apologize as well. I was in a hurry and not watching where I was going."

Flash got a good look at the girl. She was about the same height as she was, perhaps an inch or so taller, with long lavender colored hair and sparkling eyes. Judging from the colors of the kimono she wore, this was a princess of the palace.

The girl spoke again. "My name is Clea. What is your name?" she asked.

"The name's Flash. Very nice to meet you, Princess Clea."

Clea smiled and shook her head. "You do not have to be so formal, Miss Flash." She smiled kindly at Flash who returned the favor.

"And neither do you."

Clea smiled again, then said, "Well, it was very nice meeting you. I must be on my way now. Good bye." She left Flash standing alone there while she went to attend some business on her own. 

Flash left the area as well, searching for her friends. She really had no clue where they were and wondered just how long it would take to find them. She asked a few servants, but they didn't know. She checked their rooms, but the rooms were empty as well. Sighing she made a turn down the west wing and walked past several rooms, finding no sign of Thunder or Scorpio.

"Geeze, where can they be?" she wondered out loud to herself. She did not know the answer to that question and thus continued to search. She walked around the bend of a hallway, now on the southeastern part of the palace. And then at last, she spotted one of them and hurried toward them as fast as she could.

It was Scorpio. He was just coming from the bathing rooms where he had been able to take a nice cold bath. Feeling better he was about to head back to his room and read and a book when Flash suddenly grabbed his arm. Startled, he gave her a look of confusion. "Hey, Flash. What's up?"

"The ceiling?" she asked, innocently.

Scorpio raised an eyebrow, knowing she was hiding something. "Okay, cap, what's up?" he asked.

She let go of his arm and stared directly into his blue eyes. "Scorpio, I had a talk with Blaze earlier. And what he said to me has had me confused ever since he left my presence."

Scorpio held his breath slightly. He knew that Blaze was the wisest animal he had ever met and had relied on the wolf more times than he could count. Now listening to Flash, he wanted to hear everything the giant wolf had to say. He nodded at Flash to continue.

"He said the Guardians will strike when the hour is dark. They will be like moving shadows and will attack when least expected."

Scorpio was confused. He tried to figure out what that meant, but he was no better at solving it than Flash had been. He shook his head, biting his bottom lip. "Flash, I can't understand it myself. It's like a riddle. Did you ask Thunder?"

"No." Flash shrugged, helplessly. "I haven't been able to find him in the palace. I'm betting he went outside though. I should ask him. He can probably figure this out himself."

Scorpio nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and the sooner the better. Those Guardians could attack at any given time. Anyway, I'm gonna head back to my room and get some reading in. I want to relax while we still have time to do so."

Flash nodded, knowing that Scorpio would only be half relaxed. A warrior was always on guard, which was sad, but true. She left him, walking her own way down the hall once more. She passed by a window, just catching a glimpse of blond hair, then doubled back and looked outside. Sitting outside by the pavilion with his head bowed was Thunder. 


	12. Chapter 12

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 12. 

General Kamalus was a large man. He was built like a bull and was well over seven feet tall. His vast knowledge of military power and stunning victories in many wars and battles had earned him the title of the General. He was good at his battles, and was always quick with the sword. Never once had he lost a fight, and for that the emperor was glad. But now he had important matters for the general to attend to. The moment the bigger man had stepped up to his throne, the emperor wasted no time. 

"General, three of my prisoners have escaped. I want you to find them immediately."

"Yes, your majesty. May I inquire of what these prisoners look like?" the general asked.

The emperor thought back as he searched his memories. He had seen them only for five seconds, but had been able to memorize their features quite well. "One had hair like ash from burning wood and smoke, one had hair the color of the sun, and the last one had hair like the sky at twilight hour."

The general took the information all down into his head and nodded again. "I will find them, your majesty. They will learn that escape under your rule will be impossible."

"Then go. I wish you luck, general." 

The general bowed again and soon left the presence of the two rulers. The empress leaned toward her husband with a curious look in her eyes. "Do you think he will find them, dear?"

"I hope so," he said softly. "I will not have anyone stalking my youngest daughter. We've already lost our son. I refuse to lose another child!"

The empress lowered her head and stared at the floor with a melancholy look in her eyes. She could not believe that it had been this long since the kidnapping of their son. They had searched everywhere, but no trace was ever found of him. It was like he had vanished into thin air. She needed to get out of the throne room now as she suddenly felt ill. "I think I will take a nap. I could use the rest." 

The emperor frowned, but nodded. He should not have brought the subject of Sun Tai up, but it was a matter that could not be helped. He wanted his son back, but did not believe he would ever be found again. He watched in silence as his wife left the throne room. Sitting by himself in the throne room, he mused over a few problems at hand. The three prisoners would be found in no time, so he was not worried about that. So far, he really had no problems, or did he?

Just then he heard the sound of the alarm. One of the guards was shouting frantically about an attack on the palace. The emperor leapt from his throne and immediately left the throne room. The guards were frantically gathering themselves up and heading outside to protect the palace. One guard told the emperor that the palace was under attack by four men in strange suits of armor.

The emperor growled angrily. "Gather all the guards you can! Send my daughter to her room and put ten guards with her!" His orders were carried out as swiftly as he had given them. He unsheathed his large blade and dashed outside to defend his empire and his family.

Outside, Anubis had already killed two more guards and was now swinging the chain of his kurisama around his head as he laughed mockingly. "Foolish children!" he said with an evil gleam in his eyes. "You stand no chance against the Dark Warlords of the Dynasty!"

The emperor's eyes blazed with a new fire. How dare these wretched creatures come and attack. They would not last long. He would send them home with their tails between their legs. Gripping his sword with a strong hand, he leapt forward and caught the end of Anubis' chain with the flat of his blade. Brown eyes bore into green eyes as both combatants stared at one another in an endless fury. "I do not know where you come from, but my home is no concern of yours!" 

"Oh, that's where you're wrong," Anubis taunted. "You have something we want. Some type of crystal which my master demands for himself."

"I know not what you speak of!" the emperor shouted, angrily. 

The two began to fight, chain and blade struck each other again and again, creating a shower of fiery sparks. Neither could outdo the other as each man had the same cunning strength and the almost the same fighting style. It was unnerving to say the least, for truly the emperor did know of what the man spoke of. But he would never let anyone know where that crystal was. It was in safe hiding and as long as he pretended to know nothing about it, then all would remain safe. 

Nearby the guards were fighting the remaining Warlords, but they were losing quickly. For they did not have the powers and magic skills to defeat these men of hell. On and on again, as more guards ran out, they quickly fell to their deaths. There seemed to be no hope at all.

Just then two large tigers, one a dark grey color with black stripes and the other with lighter grey fur suddenly jumped out the windows. Each tiger took a hold of a Warlord. Cale and Dais struggled to get away from the two tigers, but these tigers seemed to be too strong for them. For trying to escape their jaws was like having their muscles pulled from their bodies. 

The emperor, having seen that both Sawa and Yina were now in tiger form, was highly relieved. He could concentrate a little bit more on the attacker in front of him. But what about the third attacker? He could see the man with the green hair viciously attacking his guards. And the way he could see wisps of light red smoke, he realized this man was indeed poisoning them!

And then, the priestess appeared. She had her staff in her hand with a dagger firmly held in the other hand. Whispering an ancient spell, she suddenly threw her dagger right at Sekhmet. The Warlord of Venom saw it coming and dodged out of the way before it could penetrate his armor. He looked at the priestess and laughed. "So you want to play, do you? Here! Try some of my poison!" He took out his swords and began to connect them to swing them around together, making it appear as if there were six swords instead of just two in his hands. He called his surekill. "Snake Fang Strike!"

The priestess gasped as she immediately put up a deflective spell. The poison of the surekill nearly broke through but at the last moment it was repelled and struck against Sekhmet. Growling angrily, he tried again. It was no good. For the priestess had conjured up a good shield. 

The emperor smiled to himself. At last they looked like they were winning. But then suddenly, he heard another Warlord shout.   
"Web of Deception!"

Yina roared furiously the moment the webbing trapped her. She struggled violently, but that only put more pain against her. She stopped struggling as she wondered just how to get of this mess. Nearby Sawa was still battling against Cale and he, too, was beginning to have a difficult time. For Cale had finally managed to knock the tiger off him and now he kept disappearing in and out of sight, confusing the tiger. Sawa roared angrily, challenging him to stay in one place and fight. 

Cale only laughed. "What's the matter, kitty? Can't keep up now?"

Sawa roared again and swatted at air. He had to do something and fast before all hope was lost. His instincts suddenly told him to jump to the left and he did so. The blade from Cale's nodatchi had just missed him about three inches. He landed on all fours and attacked again. 

Flash stared at Thunder for a long moment before speaking. He acted like something was bothering him, but she thought it best not to ask what it was. She was certain that he would be able to tell what the riddle meant and was just about to ask him when she heard the sounds of battle. Glancing toward the right where she saw many guards several feet away toward the corner of the palace, she saw the palace was under siege. 

Thunder suddenly jumped up just as Scorpio came flying out. "Do you guys hear it? The entire palace is under the attack by four men! They think it's the Guardians we've been talking about!"

Thunder turned around and faced his friends. Had they not been so preoccupied with the sounds of battle, they would have noticed that he had been crying. "I don't think it's the Guardians," he said with certainty. "Their aura feels different. More ancient."

"Whatever it is, let's go and find out!" Flash said and lead the way to the place the battle was.

The emperor was getting fed up. He had to do something before his entire empire was in disarray. These attackers who called themselves warlords were indeed physically powerful at battle. He was beginning to wish he hadn't sent Kamalus off so soon. Anger was beginning to take hold of him as his eyes began to change. His muscles seemed to bulge and his nails from his fingers began to grow. 

Anubis' eyes widened in surprise as he witnessed this first hand. "What the…?!" He had no time to strike out again when the emperor's vise like hand wrapped around his neck, squeezing against his throat until the Warlord of Cruelty felt he could not breathe. 

"Leave this place and do not come back!" the emperor roared in a voice that was unlike his own. Nearby the priestess was already conjuring up a spell to send all four attackers back where they came from. At the end of the spell, she blew dust like properties against the four of them. The dust settled on the Warlords, causing them to cough. At first it seemed like the spell would not work, causing them to laugh.

"Ha! You see, we win! Your spells are useless against the Dynasty!" Cale taunted. 

But then all four suddenly felt as if they were being torn into time and space. They could feel something pulling at them, forcing them to leave. They struggled against it, but it only pulled at them even more. Then suddenly, all four vanished, with promises to return again.

When at last the battle was over, the emperor returned back to normal and stared in dismay at the numbers of death around him. Twenty five of his guards were slain.

The priestess joined his side, shaking her head at the mess. 

The emperor spoke briefly. "Have our strongest guards bury the dead," he ordered. The priestess nodded as he turned to go back inside, however a familiar voice prevented him from that. 

"There's no need to bury them," Flash said. She and the others had arrived just in time to see the emperor, the priestess, and the two tigers defeat these Warlords. Having been impressed she had ordered Thunder and Scorpio not to armor up and attack. She was right in her assumption of the power of these people. 

"And why not?" the emperor demanded. "My guards are dead. We must bury them!"

"Your majesty, Thunder can bring them back to life," Scorpio informed him. 

The priestess glanced right at Thunder who only half glanced at her. She glanced back at the emperor who was staring at Thunder. She knew it wasn't her imagination that Thunder was purposely avoiding the emperor's look. 

"Is this true?" the emperor demanded Thunder. "Can you indeed bring them back to life?"

Thunder nodded his head, his voice barely a whisper. "Yes, your majesty. I can."

"Then get to it. I need my army." And with that said the emperor turned and went back inside.

Thunder immediately set off to work. He bent down to the nearest one and laid a hand on the body. With his eyes closed in concentration, his body began to glow red as a symbol of a lightning bolt appeared flashing brilliantly in his forehead. The glowing transferred to the body as Thunder poured the life back into the dead guard. 

Later that day, everything had settled down and the palace was in better shape than it had been from the attack. And with all of his guards, who had been previously dead before being brought back to life by that boy, the emperor was doing his best to relax in his throne. He had just eaten some good congee and was waiting for news of Kamalus. He half doubted that the general would be back before sunset, but then again he could be wrong. For it was often hard to tell with the general and for that matter, he was seriously thinking of making Kamalus his heir before long. For the general never disappointed him. 

There was a slight knock at the door. "Who's there?!" he demanded.

"Your majesty, it is I," the priestess called out. 

"Come in."

The priestess entered the doors and shut them softly behind her. She approached the emperor and bowed in respect. "Your majesty, there is something I wish to confess."

"And what is that?" he demanded. For a moment there, he wondered if she would confess to having planned the attack. Then he scolded himself silently for having thought such wicked thoughts of deceit. For had he not seen her cast her magic to send the Warlords away? 

"Your majesty, do you believe in miracles?" the priestess asked.

"Why?" he demanded. He was starting to lose his patience with her.

"Your majesty, I believe your son has returned home."

His eyes widened as he gaped in surprise at her. Several thoughts began to run through his head, jumbling over one another several times that it felt like he was going to receive a terrible migraine. He could not believe this. Why would his son return after so many years? And why hadn't he saw him yet? No, it could not be true! 

"I do not believe my son would return home after all these years," he said with conviction.

The priestess was not surprised that he hadn't believed her and she knew it would take some time to convince him. She stood firm in her beliefs though. "Your majesty, I do believe he has returned. It is the tall boy with the wheat colored hair that came with the girl Flash and the boy Scorpio."

The emperor stared in disbelief at her. He had seen the boy himself, but did not feel that it was his son. He shook his head. "What makes you so sure of him?" he asked.

"Your majesty, he bears the same marks as your son Sun Tai did."

The emperor stroked his chin, but inside his mind was screaming no. He shook his head again. "I cannot believe it. He could be an imposter or perhaps a twin of my son. I cannot believe that it would be him."

"Can Shen tell if he was an imposter or not, your majesty?" the priestess asked. The emperor stared at her without answering. She continued on. "I really feel this indeed is your long lost son!"

The emperor sighed heavily. "Yes, Shen can. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out. Whether he's a fraud or just a mere look alike will have no effect on me. For my true son, I believe, is dead."

The priestess nodded mutedly, waiting for her next orders. They came quickly. "Gather the advisors along with Shen, then bring the boy here. I will find out tonight if what you claim to be true."

The priestess nodded her head, bowed once more, and swiftly left the throne room, leaving the emperor alone with his thoughts. 


	13. Chapter 13

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 13. 

Sin continued along through the Wai Woo Village and finally came out of the end of it. Now he found himself along a stretch of river. Here there were men standing on the edges, trying to catch fish for their dinner. Sin shook his head at them and continued on. These fishermen would have nothing worth stealing anyway. He would steal something from the emperor whom he heard so much about. 

Immediately his eyes lit up. Royalty were known to have valuable bars of gold and other items of intense worth. He would love to get his hands on them. Just thinking of how rich he would be made his heart swell with desire. 

He had to get that treasure. Hurrying forward, he took a man by the shoulder and demanded to know where the palace was.

The man stared at him with an unnerving calm. "I do not know," he said, simply.

"You lie!" Sin snarled. "You serve your emperor! You should know his home!"

"Yes, I know the palace," the man replied. "But I do not know how to tell you to get there."

Sin growled and tossed the man aside and stalked off. These simpletons would have been dead if he was the emperor. Thinking of that, he wondered if he should have killed the man, then decided it wasn't worth his time. Instead, he hurried on as fast as he could.

He soon left the river bend and made his way down a patch of hills. Here, some sheep grazed and he shook his head at the bleating sounds the animals made_. 'Stupid animals' _he thought to himself. He quickly made himself get away from this area as fast as he could. Then he noticed something in the distance and raised his head toward the northern horizon. A grin crossed his face. For there stood the palace about a mile and a half away. 

Laughing to himself, he felt rather pleased and arrogant. He didn't need anyone to find such a place! For he had found it himself. Surely the treasure was a good as his! And besides what if the power Tutock sought for was in this very building? He had to find out.

Hurrying forward, he was practically running. He passed a few people who were out and about but paid them little attention. He increased his speed, and then suddenly braked himself to a stop as he pondered something in the back of his mind. 

__

'Do I dare go in there without some plan?' he asked himself. Normally he would have cared less about a plan, but here at the palace there were perhaps more than five hundred guards and he did not wish to risk sudden exposure to them. For getting caught was likely easy. He had no idea if there was magic within the walls or not. He wished to take no chances. Instead he decided to use stealth and sneak his way in. The question was how?

Savage almost screamed out when a large boulder nearly crushed against his skull. Feeling the wind from the force of the boulder, he managed to duck down in time before it could slam against him. He leapt over an upturned stalactite and dodged another falling one. He growled in annoyance. Damn Surge and his blasted sneezes! He muttered unintelligibly to himself and kept himself focused as he worked on getting himself out of this place intact. 

Karma leapt to one side then back to the other side as stalactites continued to fall down. Several broke off into pieces. He got hit on the shoulder with one, and gritted his teeth. He could already feel the muscle swelling from the injury. Looking upward, he frowned. Would it ever stop? he wondered. The stalactites continued to fall down like raindrops. The whole cave was quickly filling up with them. They would be trapped if they could not get out, and they couldn't let that happen. If necessary they would have to use their surekills, but it would be a big risk indeed. 

Surge could have cared less if he was the cause of all this. It was not like he could have helped sneezing anyway. He knew that Savage was blaming him, for he had seen the murderous looks the Guardian of Hatred had been giving him ever since they had begun their escape plight out of this place. He quickly ducked down from a flying piece of rock, then leapt to the right side to avoid another one. Growling deep in his throat, he looked up to see how far the exit was. He could see it just a bit ahead of them, but it was so far away still. Sighing impatiently, he increased his speed, outrunning Savage. Karma was still ahead of him and his eyes narrowed with contempt. Sometimes he wished it was he who was the leader, but no it had to be Karma. What was so great about him anyway? 

His thoughts were broken off when a stalactite nearly crushed upon his skull. He avoided it just in time by ducking forward and flipping over. That was a close call. He had better pay better attention to his surroundings. 

The falling of the stalactites continued. They continued to run onward. Dodging here and there and ducking down when needing too, and stopping in their tracks suddenly, before leaping over the falling debris. 

Suddenly to their horror, the only exit was blocked off. Irritated, Karma grabbed his twin katanas and cried out with a loud voice. "Illusion Strike!" 

The attack went out and separated into long thin lights of power. It struck at the core of the blockage and the fallen rocks exploded outward, opening the exit. Light streamed in and the three Guardians ran all the faster. Soon they came through the exit and quickly left the unforgiving mountain as fast as they could. 

Suicide was rather relieved to get moving again. Cain had taken his time in relieving himself and now that he was done, he would not stop talking. So far the Guardian of Suffering barely acknowledged him as he spoke of the tea and house parties he had with his stuffed animals. Why Tutock allowed him to keep those blasted toys was beyond him, but he wasn't one to question his master. Little did he know that Tutock had considered on ripping the toys to shreds. 

Now moving onward, he kept his attention on the road ahead. So far he had seen nothing but fields and fields. Would they ever come across anything yet? He had no idea, but he knew the time was coming where he would soon lose his patience. Glancing at Cain, he bit his tongue before he could lash out. A talkative Cain was annoying. A crying Cain was much worse. So keeping his teeth planted firmly against his tongue he did not allow himself to belt out cruel words to his immature companion. 

Instead he sustained his walking, hoping to at least come across something that would shut Cain up. Now that he was thinking about it he wished he had some duct tape to plaster against Cain's mouth. But sadly there was none. He glanced irritably at him and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Do you ever stop talking about those dumb toys?" he asked in a snarl.

"They're not dumb!" Cain defended with a sniffle. 

"Whatever," Suicide snapped a bit. He really did not want Cain to start crying. 

The two passed over some fields, then crossed a small pasture where horses were kept. Here were the men who worked with the animals, training the horses to be proper mounts to humans, as well as pulling wagons and other farming machinery. The smell of straw entered their nostrils and Cain sneezed because of the dust. He rubbed his nose and watched as a young man trained a young black stallion. For a moment he watched, his eyes in awe as the animal reared and tossed his head. 

"Come on," Suicide said, impatiently. This was no time for them to be gawking at animals. He dragged Cain along until they left the pasture and came across a small park like setting. Here were the elderly couple who walked hand in hand around a pavilion which offered tranquility to the mood. 

Suicide sighed again as they passed these people. Was there no end to his suffering? His cruel mind thought it would be much fun if these people were crying out their miseries. But alas, his mission came first. Growling under his breath, he and Cain hurried onward. 

Sage suddenly stiffened as he could feel not one but three evil presences lurking several feet ahead of them. He stared into the dark forest and let out a shudder. The others glanced at him and soon they could feel it too. It wasn't the same as the Warlords presence though. For the evilness did not seem to be coming from their hearts, but rather from a different source. It was as if the souls of this new evil was tainted with pure evil. But if so, then they had better be prepared then. 

They walked forward, feeling leery about these new presences.

"Stay close, you guys," Ryo whispered with his voice on edge. 

The others did not need to be told though. They kept a careful eye out, watching, waiting. Their muscles were tensed, anticipating an attack at any moment. 

And then, the three large and dark figures stepped out behind the trees. They stared at one another.

"You see, Razor?" one who looked of Asian descent said to one comrade to his left. "They are but children!"  
The man who was called Razor growled in response, his eyes flashing angrily. "Children who may be a danger to us! I don't like the looks of them!"

"You don't like the looks of anyone," said the green haired man with the hazel eyes. The man almost reminded Cye of Sekhmet, but this man was much thinner and with darker skin. 

"They have some sort of suit on them," Razor continued. "They could be the emperor's guards!"

Ryo narrowed his eyes as he spoke aloud. "We're not the emperor's guards. We're the Ronin Warriors."

"The Ronin Warriors?" Claw echoed him. Then he smiled. "And I suppose you're a protector of some kind?"

"That's right!" Rowen said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Of humanity and life. We protect so that people will be free from evil."

"People like you?" Sage said with a snarl. The evilness from these three was starting to nauseate him.

Razor glared at the boy. He reminded him so much of Storm he wanted to attack the boy. His eyes narrowed into slits and he clenched his fists as he growled in response.

Malice laughed, a shrill laughter that sent chills down the five Ronins' spines. "Oh, but I do not think that will be easy. For you see, we seek of a power that will increase our master's power and strength and once he has it, then all people will be his slaves for him to rule over."

"Not if we can help it!" Ryo spat as he prepared himself.

"Do you think you can stop us?" Claw asked, with amusement in his eyes. He grinned just a little and shook his head. "Foolish boy, you have no idea who you are dealing with!"

"And you have no idea who you are messing with!" Ryo snapped back.

"That's telling him, Ryo!" Kento cheered.

Claw drew his large, wide blade. "Then let's find out then, shall we?" He grinned wickedly as his other two comrades withdrew their weapons and held them firmly in their hands.

"Ryo," Cye said with a nod at him. 

Ryo nodded his head. "Ronin Warriors… to arms!" he cried with a strong voice. "Armor of Wildfire! Dao Jin!" 

"Armor of Halo! Dao Chi!"

"Armor of Torrent! Dao Shin!"

"Armor of Hardrock! Dao Gi!"

"Armor of Strata! Dao Inochi!" 

The Guardians watched in shocked silence as ribbons and cherry blossoms appeared and covered the five youths. They in turn disappeared in spectral lights and soon the five boys were covered in armors. Their mouths dropped. Were there more of the Warrior pests? 

The three Guardians attacked the five Ronins. The battle was intense and was almost like any other battle, however one Guardian would attack one Ronin Warrior, then dodge and turn to attack another one. 

Razor battled against Sage, defending and attacking with long sais. He leapt about and parried a blow, then jerked one sai upward in attempt to cut his throat. 

Sage defended by blocking with a downward thrust of his nodatchi. He quickly raised his leg and kicked against the pelvic area of his opponent. However, that proved to be a big mistake. 

Razor growled and began to attack more fiercely, darting in and out, and circling around the Ronin of Light with each passing attack. 

Sage could barely keep up, then he realized what was happening. His enemy was allowing Sage to think he was the more experienced fighter, but instead he was losing his patience with this battle. He smirked. Now it was time to show this man who the real fighter was. He leapt to one side, then turned his blade into the wide position. Suddenly he swooped his weapon into an arch sweep which quickly caught the two sais of Razor's. The Guardian of Despair could not keep a hold of them and soon went flying after them the moment the Ronin's sword swept them out of his hands. 

Claw was battling against Ryo and the two could almost be fencing, except the fact, their swords were trying to cut off each other's anatomy parts. Ryo ducked down from a sweeping blow, only to retaliate with a swift blow to Claw's head. The Guardian ducked, then kicked outward, catching Ryo in the chest. The Ronin groaned in pain, then quickly flipped backward, and came at him again with twirling katana blades. 

Ryo growled, but he kept his wits about himself. There was more than one way to skin a cat. He leapt into the air and did a somersault over the attacking Guardian, and as he was coming down, one blade reached outward and caught the armored shoulder of his adversary, cutting through the armor about an inch. 

Though he felt no pain, Claw growled in anger. He began to attack all the more, causing Ryo to back up. His eyes were set to kill and for a moment Ryo was worried. But then he had an idea. He did a flip backward again and landed some feet away. He had seen Rowen aiming his bow and arrow behind Claw and nodded his head at him.

Rowen nodded his head and drew back the string as he narrowed his eyes. The enemy was moving forward to attack Ryo again, and suddenly Rowen released his arrow. It traveled in a straight line and soon came under the Guardian's hand and went straight through the handle of the blade. 

Startled, Claw watched as the arrow swept his weapon from his hand and pin it to the trunk of the tree. He quickly looked behind him and saw another arrow aimed for his head. He growled angrily again, wishing the boy's arrow would turn upon him. He was weaponless now, and had no idea of how able with weapons these young children were. 

Malice was battling against both Kento and Cye. He was patient and knew exactly what he was doing as he either defended himself against one enemy, then turned and attacked another one with his two swords. He could tell they were good fighters, however they weren't good enough. He quickly front snapped kicked against Cye's chest, propelling the boy into the trunk of a tree, then spun around and lashed against Kento.

Kento held his naginata up for defense, then jumped back and spun his weapon back and forth, blocking blow after blow. He checked to see if Cye was all right, and thankfully the Ronin of Torrent was getting to his feet. He suddenly had an idea and connected to Cye. Speaking of his idea, he looked to make sure that Cye understood as he continued to fight. Then without warning, Kento leapt back several feet. At the same time, he and Cye, on opposite sides of Malice, suddenly held their weapons out before them, and ran toward Malice as fast as they could. 

Malice sensing that something was about to happen, saw them coming, and at the same time quickly leapt to the right side. But he was too late. For the Ronins had anticipated that move, and they suddenly stopped and turned their weapons in unison. The two weapons struck against Malice in his torso and against his back at the same time. 

Malice yelped in pain as he fell over to one side. At the same time Ryo and Rowen took out Claw, and Sage took out Razor with a quick sweep of his nodatchi. 

The battle did not take long, perhaps five minutes at the most, and by the time it was done, all three Guardians were on their backs, groaning in agony.

"Pleasure doing a workout with you men!" Kento laughed.

"Yes, a real pleasure," Sage said with a sarcastic salute.

And with no other words to give, Ryo led the Ronins away from the groaning Guardians. 


	14. Chapter 14

****

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 14.

A few hours later Scorpio had found out from Flash that something was bugging Thunder, and he wouldn't tell anyone. So he decided to get his friend out of the building and take him somewhere where they could have fun. He had already gotten permission from a palace official to use the lake near the pavilion out near the western side and quickly sought for his friend.

Thunder was coming up the hallway, with his head bowed as he felt disturbed. He had no idea that Scorpio was looking for him until he heard his name and looked up. "Oh. Hi, Scorpio," he said with a small frown.

"Hello!" Scorpio chirped as he joined his side. "You know what you need?" the smaller Warrior asked him.

Thunder raised an eyebrow as he wondered what Scorpio was up to. Before he knew it, his best friend had grabbed his arm and was dragging him outside. No matter how much he protested, he could not stop Scorpio from pulling him along until they reached the pavilion. There at the lake, Scorpio pushed his friend into the water.

Thunder quickly emerged, spitting out water and flipping his wet hair out of his eyes. He was starting to feel quite annoyed and he wanted to know why his friend tossed him in. He was about to start grilling him, when suddenly Scorpio dove in. Growling in annoyance, Thunder waited for him to come up.

Scorpio soon emerged and saw the look his friend was giving him. "Look, I know you're upset, but think about it. Do you want to feel miserable all day long?"

Thunder thought about it, then realized his friend was right. It did annoy him that he felt so confused. But looking back to what that scroll said he just didn't understand anymore. Who was he? He had thought he had known, but now it was a different story all together. He was a stranger unto himself. And Scorpio would never understand.

For awhile the two swam back and forth. It was quite easy to see why Scorpio enjoyed this. He was like a fish, swimming gracefully through the water and sometimes diving down to the bottom where he would stay for about ten minutes or more before resurfacing to the top again. Because Scorpio was of the Current armor bearer staying under water was no hard task, and he enjoyed it quite often. However, he did have his limits and his weaknesses.

After an hour or so, he looked at Thunder who now looked more relaxed. "Let's go in. I really need a drink of water."

Thunder nodded his head as he watched his friend climb out of the lake. He followed and looked at his soaked shirt. With a sigh he took it off and wrung it around several times to dry it off some. Little did he know, someone was watching him.

The emperor's eyesight was keen, and often word spoke of how he could see a sparrow several feet away even if it stood very still. The throne room wasn't all that far from the western side of the palace and he could clearly see a familiar birthmark on the boy called Thunder. He frowned deeply as he recognized the mysterious two way axe with the cross on the left shoulder. Could it truly be his son? But what if it was an imposter? He did not wish to see an imposter. He felt a presence by his side and turned his head toward his priestess. Behind him waited all fifteen of his advisors, among them, Shen. He sighed deeply. He had to know. And the sooner the better.

"Go and bring the boy here," he ordered a nearby guard who stood watch of the room. The guard bowed and quickly left the throne room. And the emperor waited.

Thunder looked up the moment the guard approached him. He was a little confused and wondered if he had done something wrong. However, the guard only said, "His majesty wishes to speak with you."

Thunder gulped and looked at his wet clothes. Glancing back up at the guard, he asked, "Could I change into dry clothes before I go?"

The guard nodded and Thunder quickly went to his room and changed his clothes. Once he had done so, he emerged from his room and joined the guard's side. He could barely breathe though as the nervousness inside him increased. He felt sweaty and could feel his stomach doing flip flops. He was afraid to see the emperor, and could just about guess what he was wanted for.

The guard led him down the hall, then made a left turn, followed by a right turn until they reached the throne room. He pushed the doors open and Thunder followed him in. The first thing Thunder noticed was how everyone looked right at him. He felt nervous and spoke no words, remembering his years of training at the military academy for boys in Germany.

The emperor looked at an advisor and nodded. He would watch for now, but would speak no words at this time.

The advisor, who was Shen, came forward and spoke gently, but firmly to Thunder. "The priestess here believes you are the lost prince Sun Tai. We have summoned you to find out if her claim is accurate. You could be him, but you could also be a twin or an imposter. And we have ways of finding out."

Thunder nodded his head and spoke clearly, and yet nervously. "Do what you wish. After what the priestess told me, I don't know who I am anymore."

Shen nodded and another advisor spoke. "First," he said, "please remove your shirt."

Thunder obeyed and waited patiently as the advisors studied the birthmark on his left shoulder. Another advisor brought over a dish with some violet powder in which Shen took and rubbed it against the birthmark. They waited for a few minutes and Thunder could feel the substance stinging him a bit. His face contorted into displeasure and he was tempted to wipe the stuff off. Then to his relief, Shen wiped it off himself and everyone stared at the birthmark.

"It does not fade away," one said, rubbing his chin as he concentrated on it. He was intrigued for he was certain that it would be a fake. However, the testing was not over yet. One advisor looked at Thunder and ordered him to uncover his left eye. Thunder frowned deeply.

"I can't," he said.

"And why can't you?" the advisor demanded.

"Because if I do, then I'll blind everyone in this room for a few minutes. Your eyes will water and burn and you will see darkness for about three minutes or more." Thunder frowned again as he was hoping they would not force him. It was hard to tell whether or not they believed him, but the emperor had two guards fetch a prisoner. They would test Thunder's words out on the prisoner. When the guards had brought the captive to the throne room, they stood him before Thunder. Another advisor went behind Thunder, and everyone else, including the guards looked away as his bangs were lifted off his left eye.

The captive could not turn his head away and was forced to look into that very light, but brilliant blue eye. Immediately his eyes burned with fire and he struggled to get free of the guards' arms. His eyes watered and he saw blackness surrounding his vision. He closed his eyes and hollered in pain as he fought to get away from the boy with that strange eye.

"Take him back to the dungeon," the emperor ordered. The guards obeyed as quickly as they could.

The advisor behind Thunder let go of his bangs and they fell back into place over his eye again. Thunder's head was down and he was shaking. He wanted to go to his room and forget what had happened just now. He could hear whispering, but paid it no attention until Shen spoke again, causing his head to lift up toward his direction.

"I understand this may be hard for you, but we must know," Shen told him in a firm voice. Thunder spoke no words, but he nodded, before he asked. "Am I finished yet?"  
"Not quite. There is one more test. "

Thunder wanted to ask what that test was, but he had no time before Shen had suddenly placed him under hypnosis. Once he was under, the advisor began to ask him questions. Questions that only Sun Tai and his father would know the answers to.

"What is your name?"

"Sun Tai," the answer came out in a small voice and the emperor's eyes widen just a bit, but he remained still. Inside he could feel himself shivering, but he would not allow himself to fall quickly. He had to stay and find out all he could.

"I see," Shen said with a nod of his head. "And how old are you, Sun Tai?"

"Two," the answer came again.

"Good. And where are you now?" Shen asked, gently.

"In my room. Papa wants me to clean it, but I don't want to. I want to play!"

It was then the emperor could take no more. He dismissed the advisors and left the throne room to rest and think. Shen brought Thunder back to conscious again, and a guard escorted the dazed boy to his room. Thunder wasn't sure what had happened, nor did he care. He only wanted to sleep as he felt tired unexpectedly.

Talpa was furious when he had learned that his four best Warlords had been defeated by a mere priestess. Still that did intrigue him, cause now he believed that more than anything that crystal was powerful, and that the emperor was protecting it. He had to get his hands on it. With it, he could destroy the Ronins and obtain the Inferno armor. It was a dream come true that would soon become a reality. He stared down at the four bowing figures before him. He sighed heavily as if disturbed. And then his eyes flared with new anger. "You four have disappointed me, yet again. I shall punish all of you for such actions. And this time, it will be one of the worst punishments you've ever had."  
The four Warlords gulped. Even if they had never experienced it, they knew exactly what he was talking about. The Pits. The Pits was where Badamon and his spirits roamed, giving off nether energy and taking over the minds and bodies of their captives. Though the process hurt greatly, in the end whoever was victim of their powers, received more power as well. Clearly, Talpa wanted to them to be invincible. If they were, they could obtain the crystal.

Talpa's eyes then glowed and electrical lines of power came forth from him. The tendrils wrapped around the Warlords, encasing them in dark energy. They screamed, but they could not fight against the might of his power. A few minutes passed and soon all of them had disappeared, taken to the Pits. It was there that they would endure such agony.

Talpa leaned back in his throne and his eyes flashed again. A window appeared suddenly and he watched the five Ronins. And then he noticed something. For the five Ronins were battling against three men in armor. This intrigued him. For he had never known there to be other armors rather than the nine that came from himself. It was clear however that the Ronins were winning the battle, but still he wondered about these new armors. Where had they come from? What type of power did they contain? Were they created before the nine armors, or after the nine armors? So many questions ran through his mind, and then one last question entered. Who were their enemies? "I must find out about them. For they could either make an alliance with me, or be set forth against me." He stood up, and then with a flash of dark power, he vanished from his throne room.

As the five Ronins were heading away, they did not realize that the three men they had so easily defeated had risen up again. Immediately they found themselves in another epic battle, fighting almost to the death. These children had proven to be quite the warriors and the Guardians found themselves fighting all the more.

Claw growled angrily, then he leapt high into the air with a outward kick. He moved so fast that Rowen had no time to second guess his attack. The Ronin of Strata was hit in the chest which sent him flying backward until he slammed against the trunk of a tree.

"Rowen!" Ryo cried out. He turned suddenly, and leapt forward with his swords, attacking Claw. He would make this man pay for hurting his friend. A new fire surged through him, and he could tell that this new enemy was avoiding most of his attacks. For every time Ryo would thrust a blow, the man would somehow avoid it with either a duck or a side flip, or even a somersault backward or forward over the head. Something had to be done and soon. For who knew what kind of powers this new enemy had.

Razor was trembling with rage. He would make this brat pay for knocking his sais far away from him. Without warning, he leapt into the air and tackled the blond haired warrior. Sage gasped as his nodatchi flew from his hand. He toppled over backward and was pinned to the ground as the fierce Guardian began to pound his face with iron fists. He struggled to get him off, but then an idea came to him. Suddenly, he brought his legs upward and was somehow able to wrap them around his attacker's neck.

Razor felt his air supply cut off suddenly, and he stopped beating against Sage's face. His hands flew to his throat to try and dislodge the legs wrapped around his neck. Sage's fist immediately landed a hard punch against Razor's face and with a sudden kick, the Guardian was thrown backward. He flew through several trees until he hit the trunk of one and landed unconscious on the ground.

Kento and Cye were battling against Malice and it was easy to see just how clever their new enemy was. For when one went to attack from the back, he would flip over them, and attack the other Ronin. Twice Kento had been knocked down, but would quickly leap to his feet again. He was trying to think of the best way to defeat him. His two swords were constantly moving, turning again and again in his hands. The Ronin of Hardrock knew that somehow he had to dislodge those weapons if they were to defeat him. Then suddenly, an idea came to him. It sounded crazy, but it may just work.

Kneeling down, he sat there, waiting for the Guardian to attack him. Malice had already tried to cut Cye's head off, but the Ronin of Torrent had easily avoided him by doing a side twist into the air. Now turning, the Guardian of Terror noticed that Kento seemed to have given up. He stood there, as if trying to second guess the boy.

'_Why is he just kneeling there?' _he asked himself, silently. He couldn't figure it out. And then he thought that perhaps the boy had an idea. Well, two could play this game. He charged forward and just as Kento was ready with his nanginta, Malice suddenly ducked to one side. This threw off Kento and he cried out as he felt that sword strike him against the underside of his armor.

However, he was not prepared from another assault. Cye charged forward with his Yari and using the opened ends of it, he grabbed Malice and threw him over his head. Malice landed with a sickening crash and struggled to his feet again. His hands still held his swords, but they were pointed toward the ground. He stared at the young boy who stood facing him, ready for more battle.

Ryo had once again attacked Claw, and this time Claw felt the power behind this boy. He had to somehow get his weapon and charge him, but every time he would get close to it, the young boy would suddenly be there, preventing such actions.

"You may as well give up!" Ryo told him. "You're outmatched!"

"Ha!" the Guardian of Destruction retorted. "Would you fight against one who is weaponless?"

Ryo growled as he knew the man had trapped him. Sighing, he sheathed his swords. Claw suddenly came forward with a punch that sent Ryo tumbling backward. The Ronin of Wildfire quickly leapt to his feet and blocked the next blow. He retaliated with a side kick of his own, then blocked another blow. The two were moving so fast now, it was hard to keep up with them. Each time one would strike, the other would block, then strike back with a blow of their own. Twice the two darted away from one another, then counter back with a different attack.

Malice was not going to take any more. He suddenly charged forward, but this time Cye was ready. Just before he made it even four feet, the Ronin of Torrent called his sure kill. "Super Wave Smasher!"

The attack came out and struck Malice against his torso. He screamed as the power surrounded him, almost burning him as the freezing water took a hold of his senses. And then, he was thrown backward where he landed in a crumpled heap upon the ground.

So now it was four Ronins standing against one Guardian. For two had been defeated and the last one was still battling against Ryo. Seeing that Ryo had the situation under control, Sage, Cye, and Kento went to gather Rowen up and work on healing his injuries. Sage knelt down beside his friend and placed his hands upon him. It did not take long to heal Rowen, and soon the Ronin was back on his feet. He was a bit tired, so they decided to wait and let him rest while Ryo fought the last man. It would be a while before Ryo defeated his attacker.


	15. Chapter 15

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 15.

Sin stared at the palace from his hiding place amongst the bushes. He could see guards standing at attention, though their eyes darted here and there whenever a noise was heard. Other guards were marching up and down the long walkway, their suspicion never wavering. It was known that many times bandits would come and try to enter into the palace to rob the emperor so it was no wonder these guards were so highly alert.

He watched as one particular guard, the largest of them all, came out of the palace and spoke briefly to one of the guards on his left, before hurrying off down the path toward the stables. The more Sin watched him, the more he was stunned to find this guy looked almost identical to Karma. But there was one noticeable difference. For the man bore no burn scar on his face.

Turning his head yet again to the palace, Sin licked his lips and made his way to his right, keeping his profile low and covered. The guards had not seen him yet, and he wondered if he could somehow scamper into a window. He stopped again and looked about himself, seeing that no one had spotted him yet. And that was fine with him. He just needed to find an empty space and he could move forward with his plan.

A sparrow shot overhead, sounding the earth with his small cry. Most likely he was calling for his mate as he sailed overhead the guards below. He ignited himself on the corner of the palace roof, where a nest had been built and filled the earth with his song.

Sin looked for a rock to throw at the bird, but then realized doing so may uncover his hiding place. He heard footsteps behind him and quickly whirled around, ready to tear apart anyone who came too close to him.

Suicide narrowed his eyes at the Guardian before him. He and Cain had searched endlessly, trying to find their way out of a long meadow and then finally an endless town of stiff necked people that he was ready to unleash his surekill upon this whole world. At last they had come across a young girl no more than eight who told him how to find the palace, and so he had dragged Cain, unwillingly, along behind him.

Cain stared at Sin with happiness. He was glad to see the Guardian and tried to hug him, but the older Guardian pushed him away. "But.. but I'm so happy to see you!" he blurted out.

"Quiet, you dolt!" Sin said as he covered Cain's mouth with one hand. He looked about himself again, then guided his companions to a more suitable hiding place amongst the bushes.

Suicide looked around, his eyes narrowed as he sighed impatiently. He did not see the other six Guardians and wondered where they could be. He looked at Sin and asked, dryly, "Do you plan to enter inside?"

"Yes," Sin replied, eagerly. "There's bound to be gold in there."

"Don't forget about the mission at hand," Suicide snapped as he looked at him.

Sin rolled his eyes. "I won't forget. I want to have fun too, Suicide. Even _you _could stand to learn what that means!"

Suicide did not answer, but turned his eyes upon the palace. It was growing later and the sun would soon be setting. He hoped to get inside the palace as soon as possible, but wasn't sure if they should do so without the other Guardians.

"When do we go in?" Cain asked, voicing his own concern as he was growing tired of waiting there.

"Soon," Sin replied as he kept his eyes upon the palace window they were now hiding in front of. "Soon."

Karma could say that he had been very fortunate in getting himself and the other two Guardians away from the mountains before they would have been crushed. Now as they stood below the base of the mountain they found themselves in an endless valley of succulent green grass and a waterfall at the far south end. Its waters trickled into a stream and curved this way and that around a winding stretch of banks heading northward. Here and there a monarch butterfly flew from flower to flower.

Surge sat down on a rock and lifted his foot to take off his boot. Turning it upside down, he smacked the sole of it, releasing small rocks and tiny pebbles out of it. He did not look happy and his pouting eyes gave that notion away. Still it was rather a miracle they weren't dead. He had much to be thankful for at the time and wanted nothing better than a tall glass of whiskey to celebrate life.

Savage eyed their area with displeasure as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was growing more sour by the minute and did not hide the fact. "Where are we?" he demanded.

"The Sun Woo territory," Karma replied as he overlooked the area as well. "We shouldn't be far from the palace itself, and I'm willing to bet that's where the power is."

"How can we be sure?" Surge asked as he was putting his boot back on.

"The emperor is known to be the most powerful man in the world," Karma answered, dryly. "Think about it."

"So then what are we waiting for?" Savage asked impatiently.

"I'm determining the best route to go," Karma answered. "If we're lucky, the other Guardians have already found the palace and are there waiting for us."

"Not unless Razor decided to pick a fight with someone," Surge said with a snort. He stood up and looked at his fellow Guardians.

Karma was looking to his right, then to his left. All he could see around him was grass. He walked forward a bit when he realized a sign was near and read the inscription upon it. Or at least he tried to. The language was some form of Chinese and he could not very well understand it. Still he had his guess and looked back at the others. "This sign may be pointing to the palace. We're going to take a chance and find out."

The three of them headed in the direction of northward, following the sign's pointed arrow. They soon came upon a trail that had been hidden behind the long blades of grass and followed it.

The journey was rather a long one and they had walked at least two miles before an image in the distance began to take shape. Realizing it was a building, they peered closely at it. It was rectangular and in fact the largest building any of them had ever seen. Karma's mouth spread into a wicked grin. "We've found it."

Claw's eyes fluttered several times as conscious seeped back into him. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up as pain shot through the back of his head. The memories of the battle came back to him. Those kids had fought remarkably well. But now was the time to think on other matters. He stood up and rubbed his head, pushing the pain of his headache into the back of his mind.

Razor was awake as well and was not too happy. His back was killing him and he had no idea just how much damage he had. He knew nothing was broken, because he would not be able to move if that were so. Gritting his teeth, he looked toward Claw and Malice, wondering what they were to do now. He personally wanted to go after those five boys, particularly that Storm look-alike and give him a taste of his surekill.

Malice was rubbing his left arm, thinking about what happened. Those children were no ordinary children. In a lot of ways they reminded him of the Warriors. He wondered if Tutock knew about them, and decided when he got the chance he would ask him. As of now, they had to find the other Guardians. Something was nagging at him to go northward and he wasn't one to say no. He looked toward the others. "Let's head north now and see what we find there."

The other two Guardians nodded their heads and followed Malice north. Little was said upon their journey, but each Guardian had their own thoughts. They traveled through the dark forest, using their skills to find their way around trees, uplifted roots, and overturned trees that had fallen from storms. They soon came to a pathway hidden by tall grass and quickly walked upon it.

The journey did not take long and soon they could see a rectangular building in the distance. Looking at it closely, Malice soon discovered what it was. He looked at the others. "I believe we have found the palace. Perhaps that is where the other Guardians are. It could also be where the power is located at."

"Then let's get there and find out," Claw said.

And saying no more, the three continued on their way, coming from the direction of east, and heading toward the palace.

The Ronins had soon found an abandoned cave, near a streambed and were resting inside it. Cye and Kento had gathered up twigs and dried grass and brought it inside the cave so that Ryo could get a small fire going. However, there was tension in the cave, and it wasn't about the small fight they had gotten themselves into earlier that day. No, for Sage of Halo knew that at any time Ryo would start demanding questions of why he followed a girl when he should have been concentrating on their mission. He kept himself pressed against the wall of the cave on the left side and hoped that Ryo would forget about wanting to talk to him.

Rowen was near the fire warming his hands up. Each of them were now out of subarmor and in their regular clothing, and he was feeling quite chilly at this moment. Cye was on the other side, laying down on his left side, staring into the flames. While Kento was just sitting crossed legged, poking a long stick into the cackling flames. Ryo was sitting near the fire with his knees drawn up, deep in thought. Finally, with a sigh, he raised his head and looked toward Sage.

"It's time we talked, Sage," he said in a firm voice.

Sage gulped and looked down even more. He could not face those burning eyes of his leader and wondered how this would turn out. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and nerves of sweat ran down his face.

Ryo, however, did not seem concerned of his friend feeling afraid of getting a talking to. "Sage, why did you follow that girl when you knew that we had a mission to focus on?" he demanded.

Tension. It was in the air and the other three Ronins could feel this subject was very uncomfortable. No one spoke. Usually, Sage would not be held back, but Ryo seemed to have that effect on all of them. Nobody like to get on his bad side. So far, Ryo wasn't yelling and was keeping his temper it seemed, but it was hard to say how long that would last.

Sage finally answered, still not looking up. "I'm not sure why I followed her, Ryo. There was something about her that I could not explain. Something in my being said to follow her and I don't know why."

"And it wasn't a sudden crush?" Ryo demanded. Sage shook his head, and that was when Ryo's temper exploded. "Damn it, Sage! You knew you were not suppose to follow any girl that you suddenly taken a liking for. You had a duty as a Ronin Warrior and failed at that. If there was something odd about this girl, you should have told us! I could have asked Cleo about her and found something out, but no! You refused to even do that and decided to do things your own way which got you, Rowen, and Kento all in trouble. You don't even know how much Cye and I looked for you, only to hear from Cleo that you were all arrested for stalking a princess!"

Sage finally looked up with tears burning in his eyes. He hated to be yelled at, for it seemed that was all that ever happened to him. Even from his own family. But he could just not defend himself. "I didn't know she was a princess, Ryo!" he snapped back, angrily. He was really trying to keep his tears from falling, but now he was shaking so badly, he doubt that would be possible. "I only sensed something about a girl that didn't feel right to me. Yes, I should have told you guys, but I didn't think of that!"

"Well, your 'not thinking' has caused the guards of the empire to look for you and Rowen and Kento. I hope you're happy, Sage, because it may be quite awhile before we can even find out what type of crystal that Talpa wants!"

At this Sage could take no more. With hands over his eyes, he fled from the cave and back into the dark forest, running as fast as he could.

Rowen immediately stood up and shouted after him, but when he saw his friend was not going to return, he sat down with a heavy sigh. Looking at Ryo, he wondered when the Ronin of Wildfire would learn to control his temper.

"Think he'll be back?" Kento asked.

"Who knows?" Cye said. "He was quite upset. Maybe we should go look for him."

"Not yet," Ryo said with a shake of his head. "He's got to learn you can't do certain things. Not cooperating is one of them. He could have gotten you two killed. Stalking royalty is against the law in this realm."  
Neither Kento nor Rowen said anything about that. They knew deep down Sage hadn't meant to get them in trouble, but they could not prove that to Ryo. They could only hope as time passed that Sage would resolve his conflict with Ryo and come back a better feeling Ronin. All they could now was wait for him.


	16. Chapter 16

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 16.

Flash had seen Thunder escorted to his room by a guard and wondered what had happened. She

waited until the guard left, before going into the room herself to check on her friend. But she could ask nothing. For Thunder was sound asleep. It was so unusual. Thunder did not normally get tired much before eleven at night and yet here at five in the afternoon he was sleeping. With a sigh, she backed out the door and turned to go down the hall. She soon came across Scorpio. Immediately he noticed her look of concern.

"What's the matter?" he asked her.

"It's Thunder. He's a taking a nap," she replied.

Scorpio's eyebrows went up with surprise. "At this late in the day? That's not like him at all."

"No, it's not," Flash agreed.

The two walked down the hall together, trying to put their concern for their friend out of their minds. They had more pressing matters to begin with. Flash was still worried about the Guardians and as night was drawing closer she felt more tense than before.

"Do you think they'll come tonight?" Scorpio asked her.

"Hm. They could," she replied with a frown. "It's just too bad Blaze didn't give me more of a direct answer when I spoke to him."

"I hope Thunder's awake if they do come. We'll need his help," Scorpio said with a sigh.

"We'll wake him if he's not," Flash said.

The two continued down the hall and soon came upon two servants of the emperor. One of them was a tall man with his black hair tied into a braid, hanging down over his back, the other was a tall, lanky boy known as Kovuso.

"Kovuso!" the taller servant chided. "Do not make so much noise! His majesty is resting!"

Kovuso's lip quivered as he tried to balance the pottery jar within his hands. He kept stumbling down the hall, bumping into walls with the pottery. "I am so sorry!"

"Kovuso, try to walk [I]away[/I] from the walls!" the servant said with irritation. This boy really did annoy him. Had he been the emperor he would have gotten rid of him long ago.

Kovuso stumbled away from the wall and attempted to walk down the middle of the hallway. But carrying the huge pottery in front of him blocked his view of his own feet, and he ended up tripping over his own foot.

Flash and Scorpio grimaced when the poor boy fell forward and the pottery flew from his hands. It shattered into pieces on the floor, creating a loud resounding crash.

The older servant was outraged. He immediately grasped Kovuso by the arm and hauled him to his feet. Pointing at the mess, he cried out, "What have you done?! That was an expensive pottery jar! The emperor will be furious!"

"Hey, lighten up," Flash said as she came over. "It was an accident."

"He's always having accidents! He breaks the dishes, the pottery, he's broken a glass mirror…." On and on the servant ranted, his face red with anger. Flash and Scorpio's eyes widen with surprise and they grimaced. Looking back at Kovuso whose head was down in shame, they could not help feeling sorry for him. With a sigh, Flash bent down and started to pick up the broken pieces of the pottery. Scorpio helped too.

The servant glowered at Kovuso who refused to look up at him. "Clean this mess up immediately!" He stormed away.

Kovuso sighed as he dropped to the floor and began to pick up broken shards of pottery. A great depression weighed down upon him and he shook his head. But then he suddenly smiled. "If I were an artist I would draw Chun Chun hopping up and down and tearing at his hair!"

Flash and Scorpio looked at him with stunned speechlessness. How could one person who had just moments before looked so depressed and was now suddenly in high spirits? Mysteries never cease.

After the mess was cleaned up and the broken pieces thrown away, Kovuso thanked them and went his own way. Flash watched him go while shaking her head. "If he would have done something like that at my house, my dad would have murdered him."

Scorpio sweatdropped. "I almost feel sorry for the poor guy."

The two continued their way down the hall, putting the clumsy servant out of their minds for now. At this time of the evening, the palace was silent. The handmaidens and servants did their chores, while the guards kept their post.

They passed a library where the advisor Shen was seated at a table, going over a long scroll, quietly to himself.

Sin, Suicide, and Cain all looked up the moment when they saw Razor, Malice, Claw, Karma, Surge, and Savage approaching. Sighs of relief escaped their lips as the nine of them were reunited. Now each Guardian looked to Karma for further instructions.

"Sin wants us to go inside the palace," Suicide informed their leader. "Do we?"

"How many guards are out and about?" Karma wanted to know.

"Twenty eight all together," Sin replied. "There are seven guards at each of the four sides of the palace. They should be very easy to take out."

"But that's not counting how many are inside the walls," Malice said with a shake of his head.

"Then we'll find out won't we?" Karma said with a sneer. He looked at the palace windows, then at his fellow Guardians. He decided to send three at a time at different locations. They would circle around inside the palace and cut off the guards there, then attack them before they could unite with each other, before going after the emperor. Karma was quite sure the emperor would have the power source. Once they had it in their possession, they could return to Tophet.

The first Guardians to go in were Sin, Malice, and Razor. They quietly entered in through a window and landed gracefully on the floor inside the palace. Keeping to the shadows, they withdrew their weapons and headed eastward of the palace. The next to enter were Suicide, Surge, and Claw. They headed westward of the palace, keeping to the shadows with their weapons in hand. The last three to enter were Karma, Cain, and Savage. They headed northward of the palace, keeping to the shadows with their weapons in hand. So far the palace was quiet, and they could see how many guards were in each part of the palace. They would follow Karma's plan, round up the guards and take them out, then head up to the emperor's quarters.

Malice looked around a corner and saw just seven guards standing at attention along the walls. Four were on the left hand side, and three were on the right hand side. He looked over his shoulder and nodded at Sin and Razor. The three of them quickly leapt into action. The guards immediately turned and raised their pikes. Sin attacked three of them, using his double chain axe to uppercut one under the chin, and kicking another in the stomach. The third one rushed at him with his pike raised high, but the Guardian of Wickedness stepped backward, did a sudden sidestep and allowed his armored fist to strike his torso. All three guards went down.

Razor, the Guardian of Despair, threw his sais forward, catching one guard by the arm and pinning him to the wall, and striking in the chest of another one. The guard's eyes widen with pain as he sank to his knees, but Razor wasn't done yet. He moved swiftly forward and pressed the sai further into the man's chest.

The guard screamed out, then suddenly fell limp against the marble floor, his lifeless eyes staring blankly at his killer. The third guard charged forward and caught Razor in the side. The Guardian snarled in anger and used his arm to knock the guard against the wall. He then ran at him and slammed his head several times against the wall, until the guard fell to the floor, unconscious.

Malice, the Guardian of Terror, waited until one guard was close enough to him, before striking out with his own swords. The weapons opened a deep cut within one's throat, and the guard fell to the floor, gagging and moaning. The second guard threw his pike, but Malice ducked neatly, then rose up and leapt high into the air as he did a side kick against the head of the guard. The helmet fell off from the guard's head, and Malice struck his head with an open fist. The guard lost consciousness and fell limply to the floor. The last guard tried to run to get help, but Malice leapt upon his shoulders, causing the man to lose his balance. He pitched forward and then suddenly saw blackness when his attacker pounded two iron fists against the back of his head.

Sin dusted his hands and spat on the floor. "Well, that takes care of that."

"Let's see how well the other Guardians have done with their guards," Malice said. And so the three of them headed down the halls, leaving the injured and dead guards behind.

It was the same for the other six Guardians. Each of them had taken out their own set of guards and now they were close to getting toward the emperor's chambers. But there were more guards standing at attention within this northern part of the palace.

Karma snarled at seeing at least fifty guards along the first part of the chambers. He rushed forward, catching the guards off guard. Immediately, they rushed at him, striking at him with their pikes, but Karma spun, hacked, leapt and brought his swords down in all different direction. A parry here, a block here, a slash there, a down strike there. The guards were quickly falling, but more were taking their place.

Cain immediately raced forward with his own weapon and began to slice through them, bringing them down to their knees. More rushed at the Guardian of Death, but he quickly flipped over their heads, bringing his weapon to strike them right through their heads. This did not kill them, but put them in such a deep coma, that one would think they were dead.

Savage, the Guardian of Hatred, attacked several more guards, using his weight to push them against the wall, where he suddenly went into a frenzy and took them out there. He ducked down suddenly when he felt the sudden rushing sound of a pike aiming for his head. His arm shot out and he soon heard a choking sound. He had caught the guard right under the chin. A sinister smile came upon his features and he suddenly did a snap kick against the guard, propelling him down the hall.

On and on the fight continued, but the Guardians proved to be too much for the guards. But they continued to fight valiantly in hopes of keeping these attackers away from their emperor.

The other Guardians appeared suddenly, having taken out their own set of guards at the other two directions of the palace. Now the guards were beginning to feel hopeless about this matter. One of them tried to run away to get more help, but Suicide grabbed him by the neck and hauled him back. The guard did only what he could think of. He screamed.

Flash and Scorpio suddenly looked at one another when they heard that scream. Instantly their eyes widen as they saw several guards suddenly running past, their faces determined and concerned. Immediately they knew something was up.

"Go wake Thunder!" Flash said. "I think the Guardians are here!"

Scorpio nodded his head and raced off down the hall, as Flash followed the rest of the guards in the opposite direction.

When Flash came upon the scene, she was instantly horrified by all the unconscious and lifeless guards on the floor. She scowled angrily as she let her presence be known. "Alright, you filth, you're going down!"

The Guardians immediately stopped attacking the guards and turned to face her. Karma began to twitch with anger. Memories came receding back to him as he remembered this was the very girl who had disfigured his face a few years ago. He would never forget that fateful day.

"Do you really think you can take on all of us, Firestarter?" he demanded as he stepped forward with blades drawn.

"You know I can!" Flash retorted.

"Even if you cause a fire within the palace walls?" Malice smirked at her. He started to chuckle when he suddenly he noticed that Firestarter had disappeared. "What? Where did she go?!" Before anyone could answer him, Flash appeared right before him and was suddenly kicking against his midsection. This threw him back several feet down the hall.

Surge, the Guardian of Darkness. leapt forward to catch the girl by surprise, but she quickly moved out of the way and behind him where she dropped down to the floor, supporting herself in a crab like fashion, and kicked against his lower back with both feet. He suddenly found himself flying face forward where he landed roughly on the floor.

Flash quickly leapt to her feet and stared at the remaining seven Guardians.

They surrounded her, their eyes glowing with anger and their weapons raised aloft. She reached behind her back and began to draw her own weapon, a large sword that was thin on the upper part and more wide at the bottom.

Sin went to attack her, but then suddenly he felt a sharp pain against his back. Turning his head he immediately saw Current. A scowl came upon his features as he turned and attacked the smaller boy.

Scorpio defended himself against the oncoming attacks of the Guardian, then suddenly he dropped down to the floor. Just as he hoped, Sin followed him. That was a mistake. Scorpio suddenly struck against the bottom chin of his enemy, and the Guardian was propelled into the air. He landed in a crumbled heap on the floor several feet away.

Karma snarled and leapt into the air, his swords raised high. As he came forward to Flash, he brought the swords down, but then suddenly, a flash of red and black intercepted him, and his swords clanged against metal.

Landing on the floor, he scowled when he saw Storm. The boy's visible eye was narrowed and he was prepared for another onslaught. The Guardian of Deception took a step backward, then suddenly dodged to the left. Thunder was there immediately, blocking a parry. Using his knee, he was able to strike at the abdomen of his opponent.

Karma groaned as he went down, then suddenly back flipped away. His eyes narrowed into slits of anger and steam seemed to come from his ears.

All around the battle continued. Flash was fighting against three Guardians now. Suicide, Savage, and Cain. Scorpio battled against Surge and Claw. The battle was intense as sparks flew from the clanging and clanging of metal upon metal.

Razor scowled angrily when he realized his most hated enemy was in the room. He leapt over fighting bodies, and attacked Thunder from behind.

Now Thunder was having a more difficult time. For Karma would attack from the front, while Razor attacked from behind. Over and over again, he had to dodge an attack from one side, and strike blindly behind him, while still keeping his face directed forward.

Elsewhere the sound of the battle brought forth many guards. They surrounded the fighters with their pikes held aloft. At this Karma scowled. He should have known better than to second guess the emperor.

And indeed the emperor was watching. His eyes narrowed into angry slits as he came forward, his blade drawn and his eyes glinting. At the sound of his approach, the fighting immediately stopped.

"So, you are the ones I was warned about," he said in a low and cold voice. "Why have you come?"

Karma turned around and the emperor was stunned. If not for that terrible burn scar on his right cheek, he would have mistaken him for Kamalus. The man came forward, and stopped only inches away from the emperor. "Our master has sent us to collect an item of importance. A rare power in which he wishes for himself. With it he will make himself more powerful than before."

The emperor snorted as his eyes flashed. "I would never hand over such power if indeed it did exist! You'd have to fight me for such power!"

Karma's eyes flashed as he raised one sword across his nose. A thin trickle of blood ran down the side of his nose as he gave an evil smile. "So be it."


	17. Chapter 17

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 17.

The emperor and Karma began to circle one another as a crowd of spectators watched. Flash was just itching to finish off Karma herself, but she realized that the emperor wanted the privilege of handling such a menace. She lowered her sword to the floor, but still kept it in plain view for the other Guardians to see. The intensity between the Guardian of Deception and the emperor was building and many could see this battle would decide the outcome once and for all.

Thunder watched with fascination, keeping himself tensed though, in case any other Guardians decided to attack suddenly. His nodatchi was held at his left side, ready to be flipped up and used at a moment's notice. He could already guess how this battle would turn out in the end, though he couldn't be too sure. He sensed a great power within the emperor and wondered if that was the power the Guardians had been seeking for Tutock.

Scorpio kept his gaze fixed on the two, wondering which of them would make the first move. So far they were sizing one another up, and causing more friction within the hallway. He felt worried though, because he didn't know just how well the emperor could fight against a Guardian of Tophet, and he knew just how well Karma could fight. He was a tough man to beat, and often it was Flash who could rival him.

The remaining Guardians had their eyes fixed on Karma. Sin wanted to jump in, but the last time he jumped in a fight that Karma had clearly wanted for himself, Karma had strapped on wet electrical cords to his groin, giving the Guardian of Wickedness much pain in the process. He was rather thankful to whatever being existed and controlled his life, that he had not been killed from that ordeal.

The emperor kept his gaze fixed on this Kamalus look-alike. His muscles were tensed with every pre action of swinging forward within a matter of minutes. And then suddenly Karma leapt forward, bringing his blades down in a fiery downward thrust. The emperor quickly parried with his own blade, and rushed forward to drive the Guardian of Deception back.

Karma leapt back, then dodged to the left side as he brought one sword in a wide circular arc, and the other sword in a downward spiral in hopes of cutting the emperor off from whatever direction he might turn to. However he wasn't expecting the emperor to dodge to the right while bringing his sword up and behind him to strike against the lowering blade of his assailant.

Flash's eyes went wide. She knew Karma's fighting styles very well, and it seemed that the emperor had met him in a matched battle. Both opponents were evenly matched and it was hard to tell just where the battle would turn to. So far neither had done very much damage to the other, but that could change in due time. She was hoping Karma would not think to call his energy attack, but if he did, she hoped the emperor would be able to counter against it.

Scorpio sucked in his breath when he witnessed the emperor clobbering Karma over the head with the flat end of his blade. The helmet fell off the Guardian of Deception and tumbled across the floor, bouncing here and there until finally it came to rest face side up. He kept his attention to the battle. Karma seemed to be pretty pissed off, and as he wiped the blood from his lip, Scorpio knew he did not like that look. He sucked in another breath as he watched the leader of the Guardians jump forward again.

Thunder watched as the emperor suddenly did a back flip and land just a few feet from where he had been standing momentarily before. Again his sword lashed out, this time catching Karma's right arm. The sword cut through the metal of the armor, and virtually left his arm useless. So what would Karma do now? There didn't seem to be much option for him but to either withdraw, or to fight dirty. And fighting dirty was completely dishonorable.

Karma was seething. His right arm stung like fire, and he was half tempted to bring in the other Guardians. His eyes caught sight of the three Warriors standing there, watching, and he cursed to himself. For once why couldn't fate be on his side?

The emperor kept his focus on him. Sweat and blood trailed down his face, but his rage was growing. Still he knew how to keep himself under control, otherwise losing control could mean impending doom for himself.

"You fight well," he spoke in a calm and deadly tone of voice. "It is a shame you are on the wrong side of the battle."

"Fuck you!" Karma spat at him. "Just hand over the power, and we will leave your empire in peace for now!"

"Do you think I am that foolish?" The emperor's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You have not even _begun _to experience my wrath. I am giving one chance to surrender yourself."

Karma laughed, tossing his head back. He could not believe the axiom of this man before him. "Surrender? I don't know the meaning of the word! Guardians! Attack!"

The Guardians suddenly jumped into the fray, but once again the Warriors were there. Flash fought valiantly against Surge, Suicide, and Cain. Surge attempted to cut down her arm with a stroke of his weapon, but her blade immediately caught him between the legs and caused him to flip away before she could cut him there. Suicide went to punch her with a right hook, but she nimbly dodge, and countered by dropping to the floor and suddenly kicking him against his chest, sending him crashing into Cain.

Savage, Malice, and Sin all jumped Scorpio at the same time. The smallest Warrior immediately leaped high into the air, and brought his right leg out in a front snap kick against Sin's chin. This caused the Guardian of Wickedness to go flying back until he hit the floor right on his face, several feet away.

Savage landed in a few punches to the Current Warrior, but Scorpio blocked the last one, then flipped the Guardian of Hatred right over his shoulder. Just as Malice, the Guardian of Terror charged at him, Scorpio dodged to the one side, but frowned when Malice dodged there too. He had forgotten that Malice was the most clever of the Guardians. He would have to beat him at his own game. He somersaulted over Malice's head, reaching out for an arm to grab, but Malice simply stepped back, and grabbed onto Scorpio's upper arm and swung him right into the wall.

Scorpio grimaced with pain. He was certain his nose was broken. It hurt like hell at any rate.

Thunder quickly did a hand spring right over Claw, but as he did so, his left foot shot out suddenly and nailed the Guardian of Destruction. Claw growled in pain as he was instantly knocked back several feet where he landed hard on his back.

Razor snarled and immediately leapt after Thunder. He landed on the Warrior of Storm's back and immediately wrapped his arms around Thunder's throat and his legs around his arms, pinning them down at his sides. Thunder immediately started to choke and knew he had to get air soon, otherwise he'd pass out and possibly go into a coma. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He immediately turned around and began to slam up against the wall repeatedly, causing Razor to grunt in pain each time. But still the Guardian of Despair held on tightly. The wall slamming was simply not working at all.

Then Thunder had another idea. Praying it would work, he immediately sprang forward and rolled face forward onto the floor. This caused Razor to loosen his hold on him somewhat, and then Thunder was finally able to bring his arms up and he immediately did a back handed punch against Razor's temple. Razor immediately let go and slumped to the floor.

Karma looked around at his fallen comrades and growled dangerously. If not for those pesky Warriors, they would have had the situation remedied by now. He knew that he was failing his mission, and Master Tutock would be sorely displeased. He feared to think of the punishment they would all receive if they came back empty handed. Then suddenly, with a shout of desperate rage, he leapt into the air, his swords high above his head. He came down toward the emperor, but to his utter disbelief, the emperor brought his own sword out in a wide circular arc high above his head, knocking Karma's swords right out of his hands. And not only did he knock them out, but his sword also cut right through them, causing the two katanas to shatter into pieces.

Karma landed on the floor, staring at the emperor. "You bastard!"

The emperor scoffed at him. "I am no bastard. My parents were married. Now I suggest you take your men and leave, before I have all of you beheaded!"

Karma's eyes were practically bulging out of his head, his fists were clenched tightly as his entire body trembled with rage. A low guttural sound came from his throat as his teeth tightened against one another, making a grinding noise that by all means, should have hurt his teeth.

He looked around and could see the three annoying Warriors, and several guards starting to surround him. He knew he was defeated for now, but there would be other chances in which to find and steal the power. "You have not heard the last from me!" he declared.

"And most likely we never will, until either you're behind bars or dead," Flash told him coldly. Her cerulean eyes never left his; full of anger for something he had done so long ago. She was just itching to make his entire body combust into flames.

"Take your men and get off my land," the emperor ordered with a poisonous voice. His hand was still on the hilt of his sword, ready to be taken up again if need be.

Karma grunted and stepped back from them, keeping his eyes on them. He chanted some unfamiliar words, and soon a red haze appeared around him and the other Guardians, and at the same time, they all vanished from sight.

The emperor sighed heavily as he sheathed his sword back into its case. He looked around the hall, surveying the mess. Some of his guards were wounded. They would need to be taken to the physician and cared for as soon as possible. He would also need to bring in some carpenters to repair the damages to the hall.

The three Warriors disarmored and watched as the emperor barked out orders to servants. The servants ran about, fulfilling these orders out, and the emperor himself turned and headed off toward the north. He had to check on his wife and his remaining daughter. Scorpio watched him go and shook his head. "Well, that was eventful," he said without much emotion.

"I agree," Flash said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Still, I don't think we've seen the last of them. We know Tutock will think of a new plan to get that power."

"He always does," Thunder said, dryly. "I don't know about you two, but I'm getting sick of him. Ever since this prophecy came to us, we've been fighting. Ever since I was eight, I've had to learn how to fight. Defending myself is one thing, but having to fight every day to save worlds from him? I'm getting tired of it. We have no life of our own. We barely have time to go to school, without having to worry about when and where he'll strike next."

"He's got a point," Scorpio said, looking at Flash with a half shrug of his shoulders. Like Thunder, he often wished he'd have more time to do things, without having to worry if he'd suddenly have to stop enjoying himself. In general, he didn't mind fighting, but when one had to do it constantly it did get exhausting.

"I know he does," Flash said with a small frown. "Do you guys think I am not tired of it? I have responsibilities at home, named Sammy and Cammy." Sammy and Cammy were Flash's four year old siblings. Both fraternal twins, they were often left in the care of their fifteen year old sister, while their father and mother went away together on business trips, or when Susan, Flash's stepmother went away to bingo.

"So why can't we just destroy Tutock?" Thunder asked, bitterly. "Why does he have to keep coming back?"

"I wish I knew," Flash replied as she blew an air of exasperation. She focused her attention on Thunder with almost pity. "As far as I know, since Tutock is immortal, and can use magic he'll force himself to keep coming back. On the other hand.. should he be destroyed, his Guardians who would still be loyal, would try their hands at you."

Thunder rolled his eyes. "And I'm sick of them too. At times I wish I could only bring one set back to life."

Scorpio gave him an incredulous look. He knew that his friend could bring back to life to those who had been killed by force, whether it be a stabbing, shooting, or ran over with a vehicle, etc. But Thunder's words confused him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I wish I could bring back only those who were good. But no, I am able to bring both good and evil back to life, and I hate it." Thunder became quiet then, feeling the anger and confusion welling up inside him. He needed to get away for a little while. And some meditation would help clear his mind.

"I can see your point," Flash said. "I'd wish the same thing if it was me. Anyway, maybe we should get some rest or something."

"Good idea," Scorpio said. "I want to check out the horses in the stable." And without another word, he quickly turned and headed off.

Flash looked at Thunder, but he was already moving away from her. Sighing heavily to herself, she went off in her own direction, with one thought on her mind: Thunder sure hadn't been acting like himself. Instead of the calm attitude he usually possessed, his anger was rising forth and he seemed easily irritated and bitter. What was going on with him?


	18. Chapter 18

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A Past Forgotten

Chapter 18.

Sage wandered aimlessly through the woods, and then walked around the lake that he and the others had swam across earlier that day. He had no idea where he was going, and at that moment he didn't care. All he thought about was getting away from Ryo. A stream of hot tears coursed down his cheeks. It wasn't fair! What made Ryo think he could tell him what to do? He was a Ronin himself! Not some kid like Yulie. He could handle himself. Sure, he may have made a mistake, but so what? No one was perfect.

__

'I guess Ryo thinks he is perfect.' Sage thought bitterly to himself as he stumbled through a patch of bamboo grass. More tears ran down his cheeks as he remembered the fury in Ryo's voice when he had yelled at him. It was just like all the times when his grandfather had yelled at him when he was a young boy. It was true that Sage had never been physically abused, but he had been mentally abused. His grandfather had insisted he would never amount to anything if he stayed in his hidden shell for the rest of his life. His father had feared he would die, since he was so tiny as a baby. And his sisters Yayoi and Satsuki had always made fun of him, constantly calling him names such as a transsexual person. Yayoi went as far as to asking him if he was going to become gay.

Sage stopped by a tree whose top part was bent over, so that leaves barely touched the ground. There was a bush to his left, and to his right and before the tree was a small field of colorful lilies. Beyond that was just a plain grassy land. Anger filled his being and he angrily kicked the tree. It wasn't fair! Why did people have to be so cruel to him? Why was he treated with contempt? Why did people have to judge him based on the way he was raised? He let his tears to flow down his cheeks as he allowed his body to sank down to the ground. His knees came up to his chest and buried his face against them, allowing his sobs to take him over.

For a good long time, Sage of the Halo cried to himself. No other sounds were heard, not even the sound of a bird. The wind did not blow either. He was lost within himself, forgetting about everyone and everything. And for now, he preferred it to stay that way. For a good hour he allowed himself to cry, until at last, he ran out of tears. He brought his head back up and rested it against the trunk of the tree. He felt exhausted and even ill. Little did he realize, but his hard sobbing had brought a fever upon him. He did not realize just how serious it was developing, nor did he seem to care. All that was on his mind, was that he needed to get away. He struggled to his feet and staggered off, heading toward the grassy plains, again having no particular place in his mind to go.

Clea was sitting outside in the courtyard, just below the ramp that led up to the palace's back door. This door was only used by the guards and servants, otherwise most of the time it remained closed. Situated around the perimeter were various statues of lions, their mouths hanging ajar, their teeth seemingly sharp. Here and there were large pots filled with young trees, which when the time was ready, they would be planted into the ground. She stared up at the noontime sky, admiring its beauty and wondering what it would be like to paint something as spectacular as that. A wistful sigh came out of her mouth as she lowered her head. It was such a beautiful day. The intruders that had broken into the castle had been defeated by her father and those three teenagers. And now earlier she had heard from Yina that something extraordinary had happened. Yina was Sawa's best and perhaps only true friend who had come with him to the palace several years ago. The two were practically inseparable, but for the past few days Yina had been away on business, and sadly, to her disappointment, Sawa could not attend with her. But just this morning, Yina had returned home.

Clea could still remember Yina's words just before stepping outside to the courtyard. 'Your highness, you will not believe your ears. Remember your brother?' Yina had asked her as they had stood in the hallway just before Clea's chambers.

'Barely, but I remember how Papa had always felt so depressed over him, and how Mother had always cried herself to sleep," Clea had replied, with a raised eyebrow. "What are you getting at? My brother may be dead.'

Yina had excitedly tugged on the sleeve of her kimono, her eyes wide with exhilaration. 'But that's just it, your highness! Shen believes the heir has come back! I heard him and several other advisors talking about it today. Shen had told them the test had gone well with some boy they had interrogated in his majesty's throne room. They believe the boy, whoever he is, is the missing prince!'

Clea came back to the present time and shook her head. Was it possible that her brother, who had been missing for several years, had finally returned? She did not know. She imagined she would find out later. For now she was contended. A sudden thought occurred to her as she caught sight of her basket nearby. What fun would it be to go and pick wild berries? Smiling to herself, she got to her feet, picked up her basket, and walked out of the courtyard and toward the fields where she knew the best and juiciest berries to grow.

Rowen kept himself pressed against the wall of the cave. Sage had been gone for more than an hour, and he wondered whether or not they should attempt to look for him. Ryo had made no comment on going after him, insisting the pigheaded Ronin learn for himself. But at times, Rowen wondered who was more pigheaded: Sage, or Ryo himself? He kept a sigh within himself as he looked about the cave. Ryo was busy warming up the fire again, using his Wildfire power through his armor to make the flames kindle upon the twigs and dried leaves that had been collected earlier. Cye was busy unpacking the food they had brought from their own realm: slabs of thin chicken breast, two cans of corn, followed by a can of potatoes. Rowen had to smile to himself. Leave it to Cye; he could find any place to cook in. Kento, on the other hand was eagerly digging out an incredible device that Tsie, a very good and an extremely intelligent friend of Cleo's, had designed. It was shaped like a small metal bowl with folded handles on either side. The moment when the right handle was flipped upward, the entire bowl would change into a cooking pot. When the left handle was flipped upward, it would become a frying skillet. And as one could guess, whenever these sides were flipped down together, it would return to its original form.

Rowen had to smile. He remembered when he had first met Tsie. He had been truly impressed as he had never imagined that he would meet someone who was as intelligent as he himself. He had asked Tsie all kinds of scientific and analytical questions, and she had answered every single one of them. And in return she had interrogated him. He had answered every single question, and they each had yet to wonder just who was more intelligent.

On one hand, Rowen wasn't sure if he really cared if someone was smarter than him. At times it was quite difficult to have such a high IQ, because people expected more out of you. And there were things out there that Rowen wanted to know. Life was filled with such mystery and wonder, that at times it was hard to imagine that what they were seeing before them was it. There had to be more out there. What if there was a whole new galaxy just outside of the one they were in? What if the sun was not actually hot, but was so cold that it would make Antarctica feel like a mere summer's breeze?

With all these questions in his mind, he decided that after this was over, he would visit Tsie when he had the time. Perhaps she would be able to help him discover the answers to the questions he had.

Cye sighed as he looked over at Ryo. "Ryo, Sage has been gone for a while now. We should go look for him." He watched the black haired Ronin as he continue to kneel before the fire, blowing on it, encouraging it to kindle its flames forth. So far Ryo had not answered, and Cye felt impatient and even a little annoyed. "Ryo, did you hear me?" he asked him, speaking just a bit more loudly.

Ryo raised his head to look at him. He still held the serious look on his face, as if he wasn't to be deterred from what he thought was right. "Yes, I heard you. I know he's been gone for a while, but we can't let him think he can get his own way."

"Ryo, Sage know what he did was wrong. Why can't you just let it go?" Cye demanded as he fumbled in his bag for a can opener.

Ryo shook his head and sighed heavily. "As leader of the Ronins, it's my responsibility to make sure the team sticks together. We have a mission, Cye, and Sage cannot let his heart get in his way."

"You mention about Sage having a heart," Cye spoke up defensively. "But where is _your _heart, Ryo? Have you forgotten that Sage is human, like the rest of us? He has feelings, feelings we may not even know nothing about. I'm not saying what he did was right, but did you not hear what he said earlier? He said there was something mysterious about the girl. Never once did he mention about having a sudden crush on her."

Kento and Rowen watched this slight argument continue. Neither one spoke up for the time being. Cye did have his points, and as Kento listened to the points being made, he realized that his anger against Sage had been wrong as well. Sage hadn't meant for them to get arrested. True, he had not been as angry as Rowen had been. Something else was stirring up, and Kento wondered what that was.

"Cye, he didn't have to tell me anything. His body language spoke up enough," Ryo snapped back, getting irritated as well. "He followed after her without telling us anything. This is the main reason why I am so angry at him. I know he has a heart; I'm not denying that. The point is, he should have informed of us what he had felt, and then let us handle it together."

"And would you have listened, Ryo?" Cye bit back, as he raised an eyebrow. By now he was starting to open up the can of potatoes as Kento brought the tripot, the invention they had officially dubbed, over to him. Cye threw the potatoes inside, as he kept his eyes fixed on Ryo. "Your problem, Ryo, is the fact you do not listen to what anyone says to you. When something else comes up that is different from our current mission, you choose to ignore it. And half the time, you do not know whether or not that which was found out, could very well be related to the mission!"

Ryo rolled his eyes. Why couldn't people understand? He was right on this subject, and yet Cye was too blind to see that. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "And I suppose you believe that this girl Sage followed after is related to our mission?"

Cye shook his head as he pulled out a mini grill and carried that and the tripot over to the fire. Ryo stared right at him, still awaiting an answer from him. "I didn't say that, Ryo. I'm just saying, instead of turning away, we should listen to Sage. You know his mental abilities have helped in the past. He saw something in that girl, and none of us know what that is. And here we are, arguing back and forth, while something could have happened to Sage."

Rowen finally decided to speak up. He didn't know whether or not his words would have an impact on Ryo, but it was worth a shot. "Cye's right, Ryo. We can't keep hiding out in this cave with Sage out there. The emperor probably knows that Kento, Sage, and I escaped, and are probably looking for us. And not to mention, the Warlords could also be out there. Sage can't handle all four of them. Not by himself."

Ryo sighed heavily as he lowered his head and stared at the hard smooth floor. He knew his friends were right, and he wanted to agree with them. But on the other hand, his stubbornness wanted to make Sage pay for the concern and worry he had caused him. He frowned as he could feel the tension building upside him. He couldn't allow his anger and pride to take him over. The others were right. They needed to find Sage. He stood up and nodded his head. "Alright, let's go find Sage. When we do, I'll ask him about the girl, and see what he says."

Kento looked half disappointed. "Aww, man. I have to wait for food again?!" He watched with a pouting look as Cye covered the food, and as Ryo put the fire out. He could feel his stomach rumbling, and groaned as if he was dying.

"Kento, give it a rest," Cye told him firmly. "We can eat when we get back."

"Yeah, Cye's right," Rowen told him as they were starting to leave the cave. "Your stomach can hold out that long."

"No, it can't," Kento muttered under his breath as he followed them out of the mouth of the cave and into the warm sunshine filtering through the trees surrounding them. The others chose not to speak to him on that subject, and one by one they disappeared into the thickness of the forest.


	19. Chapter 19

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 19

Tutock had been furious when he had learned his Guardians, including his best ones had been defeated by not only the Warriors, but also by the emperor and some priestess. He had been so close to that power source, and now to be knocked back once again caused his blood to boil with rage. If his Guardians could not succeed then he would use other means of force to get what he so desired. He knew there was a possible chance that could make his plan work.

He had never told his Guardians, but as a side of caution he had come across a young boy who was known to be one of the best assassins. The boy had lost his entire clan when he had been young, being the sole survivor out of needless violence. Tutock had found him in search of new work. As far as the Emperor of Tophet could learn, the boy went from assassin job to assassin job seeking out the destroyer of his clan.

Tutock had tested the boy's abilities to see what he could do. Though he had no power of his own, he had a small laser like gun no bigger than the palm of his hand. When fired at point blank, it created holes the size of craters. Oh, Tutock was impressed. Very impressed.

There was concern though. Unless the weapon had been made of asbestos there was no way the boy would stop Firestarter. Metal was known to become increasingly hot from fire, and the female leader of the Warriors would not hesitate to overheat that gun. Still, he knew other ways around this roadblock.

He summoned several Tophetian Spirits. They appeared before him at the same time, swirling around him. These tall luminous beings awaited his command, their grayish color melding in with the interior of the throne room, and their almond shaped eyes shifting about them.

"Go my spirits. Go to the Asian realm and attack the villagers! Take over their minds and make them your slaves!" Tutock's command was crisp and loud and the Tophetian spirits moaned in delight as they suddenly floated in different directions of the castle and were soon gone.

Tutock then summoned a myriad of Soldierknights before him. They waited silently for his command, showing no emotion. Although they seemed quite dumb, Malice's inventions had proven quite useful in the past, particularly as a distraction. "Go, my Soldierknights, to the Asian Realm! Distract the Warriors and lure them away from the palace! Use what you must!"

The Soldierknights bowed at the waist and together vanished as one.

Tutock had just one more to summon. "Jadis!"

The throne room doors opened and a young boy of fourteen appeared. Coming toward the throne he stopped before it, but neither bowed nor spoke. His white hair contrasted with the slight darkness of this throne room and his piercing ice blue eyes showed no emotion. He waited for Tutock to speak.

"I have a mission for you. On the Asian Realm is a power source. I know not where on the measly planet it thrives, but it is well protected by the emperor there. You are to go there and retrieve it for me. Use any means necessary to get it for me."

Jadis nodded his head. "I shall not fail."

"You had better not. You are the only one I am paying, and if you fail, I will not be so kind to you as my Guardians. Do you understand?" Tutock's eyes glowed more red as he beheld the boy before him.

"Yes," Jadis replied.

"Good," Tutock nodded in satisfaction. "I shall teleport you there. Do not come back without it!" He waved one hand above Jadis' head and the boy vanished from the room.

The emperor did not feel well at all, but did not want to admit it. From the moment admitting came from his mouth, the moment he would be convinced to see the physician and he had absolutely no desire to. He rubbed his face with a hand as his eyes shifted about his chamber. He was alone in the room which completely fine with him. He did not wish to be disturbed at a critical time.

He had made certain the guards outside his door were well aware no one was to enter until he was ready to face them. He stared out the window, watching his people do their daily tasks. A few children kicked around a type of ball made of bamboo as they ran past their elders, the smiles and laughter evident of their enjoyment upon their faces.

It seemed quiet and calm within his empire, yet his soul was agonized with disbelief and fear. He had seen the proofs, and there was no denying it. His son was back. But how could his mind accept it? His son had disappeared years ago. How had he suddenly reappear after all this time?

He looked around his chamber. It was made of wood mostly, finely polished to perfection. Sliding doors made of bamboo and rice paper made up for the windows and doors. Two low beds were centered in the room, side by side to one another. There were chest of drawers near the south part of the room, and across from that, elegant lanterns to give off light to the room.

His room seemed so peaceful to him, but he could not enjoy it. How could he even face his son? He had seen how shy and quiet this boy was, compared to how his son behaved before. It did not make any sense. Yet, he knew there was absolutely no way his priestess was wrong in this matter. He stood up from his bed and walked directly toward the window. Evening was beginning to fall by now and people were beginning to head in for their suppers. It seemed quiet, perhaps too quiet. But that was fine with him. Tomorrow, he would deal with the boy. For now, he had other plans.

Anubis grunted as he settled inside the bath filled with cold water. His back was aflame from where the Dynasty spirits had nailed him again and again with their negative energy. Though he felt much stronger than ever, the pain was not welcomed. He tried to understand why his master would put them through so much pain, only to make them stronger. Yet, there was always the fact that Talpa would never allow them to grow to be more powerful than he was. He would kill them before that happened.

__

'So what is Master Talpa's plan now?' he wondered as he allowed the water to rise up to his chin. _'Will he attack again using a different strategy? Or does he have something else entirely in mind?'_ The water felt so good against his burnt back he almost wanted to fall asleep, but refused to allow himself. The future was on his mind at the moment anyway as he wondered what plans would come forth. Whatever happened, he wanted to do his best to please Talpa. Having another failure would completely be the end of it all.

Sekhmet sighed. He was lying flat on his stomach, his bare back oozing with blood and pain. His pet snake; a king cobra, was slithering up and down him, its tongue flickering out against the blood. The fangs rubbed up and down the back, as if the very poison from them would make its master's pain vanish.

Sekhmet winced. Even that hurt. He knew his snake was only trying to help, but perhaps some type of Aloe Vera lotion would help. He mentally told his snake to get off him and the snake obliged, watching with beady eyes as the Warlord rose up.

Sekhmet went over to his dresser, searching for the proper bottle. At last he found it, directly behind the cough medicine. Taking it, he opened the bottle and began to spread the ointment all over his burning back. At once it began to take effect and he no longer felt the intense burning pain as he had before. He put the bottle away.

__

'The Netherspirits seemed different tonight somehow,' he mused to himself. _'More aggressive.. Being inside the dark pits have always been painful before, but never like this. One must wonder if perhaps Talpa had something to do with it.. I feel ten times stronger than before, but my back felt as if Ryo of the Wildfire's Flare Up Now struck me without my armor.'_

He sat back down and his snake slithered over his arm, still flickering its tongue. Sekhmet continued to think. If his master had indeed given them more strength, then why wait around? Should they not be out there, seeking for this crystal? Wherever it was. In the meantime, all he could do was wait for Talpa's orders.

Cale was upset. Not in the crying sense, but more in the acrimonious way. It did not seem fair every time they failed, or were defeated, he and the other Warlords would be severally punished. Why couldn't Talpa punish their enemies?

__

'I bet Talpa would never punish himself if he failed. And I know he has before. Even he could not claim Wildfire's Inferno armor.' The jealous rage struck like lightning. He could feel himself growing more intense within his anger. Even the fire like pain in his back did not compare to it.

He paced his room, bare chest, as his shirt laid nearby, hanging half off his bed. Talpa had not called for them since he had released them from the dark pits and into their rooms. It was clear he was still furious with them, but Cale could have cared less about that.

What he cared about was pleasing mainly himself. But then Talpa did not need to know that. If he could hide his secrets well enough from the tyrant, all would be well. He just had to wait for the exact moment to carry out his plan once it was worked through. In the meantime, he would bide his time.

He turned and lifted his shirt off from his bed. His back still burned, but on went his shirt anyway. Cale did not so much flinch when his back protested against it. He desired to go into the training room. Training may cause more strength to come.

Dais winced as he could not get comfortable. The pain in his back was the greatest pain he had ever felt in his entire lifetime. But still he wanted to ignore the pain. As a Warlord of the Dynasty, pain should be non existent to him. If only he were invincible the pain would have been nothing more than a mere illusion to him. It was only too bad that he could see right through it.

A long sigh escaped his lips as he sat up in bed. His robe hung around his frame and he was tempted to take it off. Yet he actually liked the feel of the satin so close to his skin. As irritating it was to his fiery back, it was actually soothing to his soul.

Thinking back to their defeat by that priestess he wondered where their mistake was. What had they done wrong? He had known the emperor would be strong. And he was even more convinced the emperor was hiding what his master desired. But he, like the other Warlords, still had no idea exactly where exactly the crystal was located, or even what it could do. As intriguing as it sounded, they were nowhere near closer to obtaining it than when they first began. It would take a lot of analytical thinking on their part in order to fulfill this mission.

Ordinarily upon forcing excruciating punishments Talpa would be in a good mood. This time he was not. He was infuriated. He sat upon his throne, fuming and mumbling ancient cuss words, if such even existed long ago. Time was of the essence and his desire to gain this crystal was even stronger. Something had to be done. But what exactly?

'_I may have to find a new alternative or perhaps go myself,'_ he thought to himself as he stared off into distance. _'Yet, I do not wish to make my presence known so quickly. If only I knew what the priestess and that emperor's weaknesses were.'_

But then a thought occurred to him. Had he not given the Warlords a cryl? Yes, he had. Immediately he knew they had not used it, and thus wasted time trying to defeat the forces of the opposite side. Such actions would not be awarded. Although they had chivalry, they were not too obedient in some respects. But perhaps the punishment given earlier would keep them from making the same mistake.

Thinking back to the Warlords he suddenly summoned them to appear before him. In a matter of moments they did so, each bowing forward with their arm striking across their torsos. They stood at attention in silence, each one fretting over what Talpa had to say to them. Whatever it was could not be good.

Talpa did not waste time in speaking. "The cryl. Where is it?" His tone was demanding, yet he showed no antagonism just yet. He waited for one of them to speak.

Anubis was the brazen one. He lifted his head to view his master as he kept his tone low and even. "Master, it is my fault. You had given the cryl to me to keep in my possession and I have miserably failed you. I was the one responsible for it and did not use it as I should. I allowed my eagerness for bloodshed get in the way of the true mission."

Talpa's eyes flashed just once. He was rather pleased that Anubis had been truthful with him. As a ruler, he did not stand for lies told directly to him, knowing that being told lies to, meant he would not have been in control. He would always be in control, whether anyone appreciated it or not. Though anger also flared through him slightly. He kept his attention to Anubis solely.

"Anubis, I am content you have not lied to me," the tyrant spoke, rather calmly. "Yet, if you believe I will let you off the hook for betraying your mission for some bloodshed, rather than use what was given to you, you are mistaken. Your punishment will be warranted to you without question."

Anubis felt as if his heart would jump down from chest cavity and into his stomach. Another punishment? Wasn't one enough already? Why must he endure more pain? He wanted to speak this up, but already seeing Talpa's slightly aggravated mood kept his lips sealed. It would do no good to speak up in his defense now. He lowered his head again, keeping his tone still as he spoke. "Yes, master. I will take my punishment."

"You will first give the cryl to me," Talpa commanded.

Anubis reached into the area that could have been considered a pocket and felt around it. Nothing was there. Frowning deeply he tried another area. That too was empty. Now he was concerned. He lowered his arms, feeling frantic, but not showing it. In a mumbled voice, he exclaimed, "I don't have it."

"WHAT!" Talpa's voice bellowed throughout the room. The Warlords winced, and black energy appearing as lightning bolts struck Anubis. The Warlord of Cruelty sank to his knees, yelling in agonizing pain as Talpa continued raging. "You dare to tell me you lost it!"

"I had to speak the truth!" Anubis cried out. "I had not realized it was gone until now!"

Talpa narrowed his eyes and the attack on Anubis stopped. He stared down at Anubis' pathetic form as he collapsed, breathing erratically. "You will go alone to find the cryl. If you do not find it, your punishment will be more than immense. Do you understand!"

Anubis weakly nodded his head as he slowly struggled to his feet. He took deep ragged breaths to calm himself, wondering why he was in this mess. Yes, he had the armor of Cruelty, but must cruelty be dealt to him as well? And all because he made one little mistake. He finally spoke. "Yes, master… I understand."

"NOW GO!"

And Anubis vanished from the room as the candles went out, bathing Talpa and the remaining Warlords in darkness.

Claw needed to get out of the castle. He knew his master was still furious, but what harm would it do to go out for a while? Besides, he could somehow find more information about the power source, and then his master would be proud.

Thinking it through, he decided on his course of action. Remembering not to armor up, and leaving his form in civilian clothes, he proceeded to teleport from his room. He reappeared in an area that seemed more like a garden of nature. There were hedges filled with luscious ripe strawberries. He picked a couple and popped them into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he allowed himself to gaze about. Beyond the hedges were two gnarled trees whose branches seem to stretch out to either side. Many birds of all kinds were within the leaves, all chirping rather nosily.

Turning from that way, his eyes beheld wildflowers. Bees were lazily flying from blossom to blossom and there was a monarch butterfly fluttering its wings as it settled onto a red blossom. Just beyond the wildflowers was a wide riverbed. A fish would occasionally dive up from it, only to dive back down into the depths of the stream. The sun reflected off the water, bathing it and the grassy area beyond it in ethereal glow.

__

'So beautiful, he thought to himself as he felt almost entranced. _'If only I had brought my easel and paint set with me, I could have recreated this marvelous place on canvas. If only Tophet had such beauty.'_

He turned away from the area and began to walk through. Leaving the area he came to a more rounded area where the trees stood in a wide spaced circle. Slightly toward the left within the circle of the trees were several bushes. Looking through the trunks he beheld a figure of a woman. Instantly he felt himself drooling and dared to walk closer. He had to see who this woman was. Judging from the way she stood there, collecting blueberries from the bushes and placing them into the basket held upon her elbow, he knew she must have a wonderful figure indeed. But he could not tell that for sure. He had to get closer.

Clea could have sworn she felt someone watching her, but then assumed it as her silly imagination. She continued to pick the ripest berries, humming to herself as she did so. Wouldn't her mother be pleased with her? Perhaps the cook could even create one of his special pies. She smiled to herself as she felt her mouth water slightly at the thought of it.

Blushing suddenly she was quick to wipe her mouth. She bent over to pick another blueberry and then suddenly froze. There it was again. _Someone_ was watching her. Instantly she whirled around and came face to face with an Asian man. Stunned she could feel her heart beating against her chest. Was he there to kidnap her? Why was he just staring so calmly at her? What was he intending to do?

Claw smiled brightly, his teeth sparkling. "Such beauty of nature could not dare to compete against the beauty of such as yourself!"

Clea almost dropped her basket as she sweatdropped. She wasn't expecting that at all. "Who are you?"

He smiled even more as he allowed himself to gaze at her. "I am called Claw, milady."

Clea blinked at him, but then she remembered something. A horrified look came upon her face as she backed up and into the bushes. Ignoring the scratches she was getting, she blurted out in fear. "You are one of those who attacked the palace earlier!"

Claw could feel himself deflate in an instant. He could not believe his misfortune. Now looking upon her, he could see she looked familiar as well. "Ah, yes, you are the emperor's daughter!" An idea suddenly came to him. What advantage there would be if he were to take her back to Tophet with him! Surely his master would be able to use her as a bargaining chip? He could see it now. The princess held back by himself as his master spoke to her father, promising to return the young woman in exchange for the power source. And while discussions were being made, he would surely make the princess fall in love with him, promising her jewels, and fashionable clothes.

Clea was now concerned. Fear was evident in her eyes as she could see she had nowhere to run. Claw was approaching her now and she glared at him. "Stay back!" she warned.

Claw laughed, not unkindly, but not kindly either. It seemed now as if he were amused by her. "My dear lady, what harm shall I give you? I have no need to harm you. I want to hold you in my arms and make your world better!" He came closer and closer until finally he was before her, reaching out to her.

Clea did some swift thinking. Immediately she remembered something she had been given and which she carried with her at all times. Her father had been strict about her safety and a dear friend had told her it was a good weapon to use. Quickly reaching into the pockets of her kimono she pulled out a rather large mallet. Hefting it up with a struggle, she struck forward, clobbering the Guardian of Destruction between the legs.

Instant pain shot through Claw like fire. The breath escaped from his lungs as his hands clutched himself and he crossed his legs. He felt nauseated as if he would vomit all over the place. Critical thinking led him to wonder why did he ever choose to flirt with this girl to begin with? Had he recognized her from afar, he could have taken her by surprise. But alas, she took him by surprise. He suddenly fell sideways, curled up like a broken man, whimpering like a struck dog.

Clea let her mallet drop, relieved to no longer hold its arduous mass. She wiped the sweat from her brow. She had done it. She had defended herself without the help from anyone. Glaring at Claw, she struggled to lift the mallet again and placed it back into her kimono inside the large pocket which would make carrying it easy.

Quickly positioning her basket so that it would not fall from her elbow, she hurried from the area as fast as she could. She had to get home. Hurrying across the land, she passed by the same area Claw had been moments before and hurried along the riverbank. If she was quick enough she could be there before the sun went down. She hoped her mother was not too concerned for her. '_I hope she knows I am safe. Should I tell her about what happened? She may not let me out by myself for a while. Then again, neither will Papa. But I do not wish to be dishonest with them.'_

Thinking it was the best approach she hasten her speed. As she walked on, her eyes took notice to an area filled with beautiful trees surrounded by rows upon rows of flowers that all seemed perfectly aligned. Here and there a boulder jutted from various places, and then… she saw a still figure lying face down on the ground. Concerned and yet fearful, she quietly approached it. Coming closer she realized it was a man with short hair the color of the sun. Memories flashed back to her mind as she remembered her younger brother. Could Yina indeed be right? What if this was the man? But if it was, then what was he doing out here alone, and asleep?

Gingerly touching his shoulder she roused him. His eyes fluttered open and he groaned weakly. Turning his head he beheld the woman before him.. She seemed familiar…quite familiar actually.. Slow thinking made him wonder what she was doing here rather than be at her home, yelling at Keisu for wrecking her kitchen again. A weak murmur escaped from his mouth as confusion swirled his thoughts. "Cleo?" And he promptly passed out again.


	20. Chapter 20

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 20

Anubis had arrived back in the Asian realm and immediately began to look for the cryl. His green eyes checked carefully of every blade, every flower, every rock within the meadows he stood in. A sigh of frustration came forth from his lips as he stood up from searching under a rock. How had he lost the cryl in the first place? In fact when had he lost it? He was quite certain it had been on him during the trek through the lands, but had it been with him when he reached the palace? He wasn't sure about it, but it was very possible that was the last place he had been, and there had been a battle there.

Thinking that it was best to go back to the palace, he swiftly headed off into that direction. However a scream stopped him in his tracks. Looking toward the sound, he watched as several villagers ran toward him in a panic. Leaping into the air, he landed on a branch and his eyes widened slightly. For he could see what appeared to be spirit like entities, floating after the people, assailing them. These did not look like the Netherspirits, but what were they? Where did they come from?

Fascinated, he continued to watch. The strange spirits were savagely attacking anyone they caught within their grasp. One went as far as to entering the body of a man, possessing him. The possessed man then attacked his own people in a vicious cycle.

"Someone help us!" a woman screamed out in fear. A spirit was approaching her, grinning madly as it reached out seemingly frail hands at her. She shrieked and backed away, hitting against a trunk of a tree. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Don't touch her!" cried out a sudden voice. A blur sped by and another silver blur went before it. There was a shriek of hissing pain as the spirit suddenly disintegrated.

Anubis was even more surprised. A mere girl had suddenly destroyed the spirit. Was she a priestess? No, she couldn't have been. He recognized the style of clothes she wore. She was from the other Earth! This could prove to be very interesting.

Flash could not believe this. It had suddenly gone from a peaceful day to the onslaught of Tophetian Spirits wrecking havoc within the empire. She had never before seen so many of them at one time. Using her spirit dagger, her weapon found her mark each time she struck. But questions weighed heavily upon her mind. Why had Tutock sent them? Was it for a distraction? If so, then she had to admit it was a good one. And if it had been his intent to lure the Warriors away from the palace so that he could get inside without delay, he was only inviting the inevitable.

Scorpio knew the problem when he saw it. The only enemies they were facing this day were the Tophetian Spirits, and he could not very well stand against them. He had to help the people escape, giving Flash a chance to battle the dreaded spirits. Single handedly he began to call out to the frighten people and escorted them away from the spirits.

But the spirits were not about to give up without a fight. They shrieked, they hollered, the drew themselves up into the air and then like bombs dove down after the escaping villagers. One young woman tripped and sprawled to the ground. She heard a shriek and instinctively turned her head. Her eyes widened and she screamed in terror when a spirit began to dive bomb at her.

Scorpio halted in his tracks and quickly whirled around. He reached the woman just in time and snagged her over his shoulder. The spirit hit the ground and growled when it saw that Scorpio had claimed its victim and was now escaping.

Scorpio's heart was pounding as he carried the woman over his shoulder. How were they going to handle this? If only he had spirit powers, then he could help Flash out better. But no, all he had were his water powers, and the spirits were immune to that. What else could he do, but run?

Anubis continued to watch the girl battle the spirits. She was quick, and she was strong. But who was she? And then remembering his master's order, and not daring to further infuriate him, Anubis leapt softly to the ground. Immediately, he came face to face with one of those spirits who seemed intent on taking over his body.

Anubis had other plans though. He quickly did several back flips, and then pulled out his kurisama and used the weapon to pull himself through the trees. The spirit followed after him, enraged.

Anubis stopped on the next tree and turned and waited. He smiled evilly. The spirit was coming closer and closer. He would show it. And then suddenly, just when the spirit was close enough, he leapt into the air, and cried out, "Quake with Fear!"

The spirit was struck through with the chains and looked astonished. Growling, it clawed furiously at the chains within its chest. Anubis held tight to them, and then with an even more evil grin, quickly jerked the chains out. Instantly, the spirit exploded.

Anubis snorted. "Annoying vermin." He quickly turned and leaped away again, intent on finding that cryl.

Flash continued to battle against the Tophetian Spirits. There were so many of them that she had literally broken into a sweat. She wiped her forehead and then quickly sensed one from behind. She did a backward thrust with her spirit dagger, nailing the spirit directly in the middle of its forehead. It vanished in a puff of yellow smoke.

But more Tophetian Spirits seem to come, so many that it seemed endless. She wasn't sure if she had the power nor the strength to deal with them all. She wished there was another spirit slayer like her, somewhere in this vast empire. But as far as she knew she was the only one.

A spirit suddenly shot up behind her and wrapped its powerful arms around her torso. She struggled fiercely, but this one was definitely sturdy. Thinking of a solution she quickly flexed her hand and tossed her spirit dagger waist level, and then she suddenly used her foot to kick the blade higher into the air and straight into the forehead of the spirit. It disintegrated and then melted away.

Flash quickly retrieved her spirit dagger and spun around to face off another Tophetian Spirit. She still had no idea why they had come, but she was certain it wasn't anything good. She saw that Scorpio had gotten the villagers away to safety, and that the emperor, empress, and their daughters had hidden themselves somewhere in the palace. But she felt worried. How long could she keep on fighting these things? They seemed to multiply endlessly. There had to be a way to get rid of them. If only she could burn them through regular pyrokinesis. It would have been quick and would have taken a lot less effort. But no. She could only destroy them with her spirit dagger, a special type of weapon that had its own power. She had never learned what type of power it was, and she had never asked. But now she was beginning to wish she had. Perhaps there was a way to increase the strength of this weapon.

Thunder had heard what was going on by overhearing the guards speaking about it. Frowning deeply, he crossed the hall and looked out the window. Immediately his eyes widen as he saw that Scorpio was leading the villagers away to safety, and that Flash was battling intensely. There had to be something he could do, but what? He couldn't battle against the spirits, and Scorpio was handling the villagers quite nicely. But then, he did notice something else.

Above the chaos, swinging from tree to tree was a man in armor. Frowning with concern, Thunder thought it best to follow this guy and see what he was up to. He had a feeling this man was up to no good. Just as he was starting to trail after the mysterious man in armor, six Tophetian Spirits entered through the palace walls and quickly surrounded him. They began to spin around him, going faster and faster. They chanted a language not all unfamiliar to the Warrior as they had hoped to entrance him for possible possession.

Thunder could feel himself getting dizzy. He attempted to stagger away from the spirits, but they were quite persistent. One went as far as chanting to begin the entrancing. The Warrior resisted as hard as he could. He could feel something attempting to take him over, and he did not know how long it would take before they won him over.

The Priestess had a terrible feeling. Darkness had been seen within her visions as she had meditated that day. When she learned that the village was under attack by evil spirits it was as she feared. Gathering up her scrolls and bottles of holy fragrances, she immediately left her room and ran down the hall. There was something amiss here she realized. Not knowing what it was, she could only hope she would not be late. Turning a corner of the palace she came to Thunder who was surrounded by several of these evil spirits.

She quickly got to work. Taking the corks off the bottles she began to douse them onto the Tophetian Spirits as she chanted an ancient prayer of spiritual purification. The spirits shrieked as they could feel this substance seeping through their very forms, causing them to smoke and then to turn a violet color. They began to drool and spin even faster, but they had no control over their actions. Some of them bumped into walls, unable to pass through. Others bumped into one another. They hissed, they clawed, they bounced.

Thunder sank to his knees as he was beginning to feel somewhat better, but not totally. A part of him was weak and he would need to gather his strength once again before he dared to rise. Vaguely, he could hear a woman chanting, but couldn't quite make out who it was. As he rested and his senses returned full strength to him, he realized it was the Priestess. Lifting his head, he viewed her presence. She was chanting something unfamiliar to him. Whatever it was it seemed to have an effect on the Tophetian Spirits.

The chanting became more intense as the spirits' behavior was becoming more unparallel. Then,

without warning they suddenly combusted into tiny fragments.

Thunder's eyes widened with astonishment as he felt back to normal now. He had no idea how she had destroyed those spirits by throwing some type of liquid on them and by chanting words, but it amazed him nonetheless.

The Priestess did not speak, but instead looked toward him. She studied him for a moment. Relieved that he was all right, she bowed and quickly left him, leaving him to stare after her until she could no longer be viewed.

Flash finally had enough. There were too many of these things, and her spirit dagger was not taking them down fast enough. She increased her speed up to fifty percent as her dagger sang here and there, slicing through the bodies of the spirits. There were groans and shrieks coming from them as they were torn asunder. Finally, she had destroyed the last Tophetian Spirit.

She came to a stop and took a careful look around. Nothing remained of the spirits, not even a puddle. This had been a close call, and she had reason to believe their presence here was not to be taken lightly.

Now that the danger was over, she could inform Scorpio that he and the villagers could return. She sent a mental message to him. "_It's safe now."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah. I destroyed the Tophetian Spirits outside the palace."_

At this time, Thunder's voice cut into their conversation. He sounded genuinely shocked. "_You won't believe what happened. Some of the spirits managed to come inside the palace, and the emperor's priestess destroyed them!"_

"_That is surprising," _Flash replied as she could not believe it. She knew Thunder wasn't lying, but it seemed quite unbelievable. She'd have to ask the Priestess later how she did it.

"_Now that I know the village is safe, I'm going to tell the villagers."_

"_See you when you come back, Scorpio."_

The three disconnected from one another. Flash went inside the palace and found Thunder in the hall. She looked around for the priestess but did not see her. "Where is she?" she asked Thunder.

"It was strange," he replied. "She looked at me, bowed, and left!"

Flash raised an eyebrow. "Bowed to you? Why?"

Thunder shrugged as he felt uncomfortable. How could he tell her his life had been misleading? He wasn't who he thought he was. He did not want to tell her anything just yet, not until he was absolutely certain he himself had accepted it.

Flash noticed he felt uneasy and decided not to pursue it. Soon enough, Scorpio returned and reported the villagers were safe. At this time, the emperor, empress, and their daughters had come out.

But the empress was frantic and the emperor gravely concerned. "My daughter Clea! She was not with us!" the empress cried.

"Where was she last?" Flash asked.

"Out on one of those explorations near the woods," the emperor replied gruffly. He had true concern in his eyes as he was afraid of what might have happened to her during the attack. He summoned three guards to him and immediately dispatched them to find Princess Clea.

Clea was not sure what she should do. She did know she did not want to leave this man here. It was too dangerous, and with the way he looked now, someone might come along and take advantage of him. Unable to determine where she had gotten the strength she managed to half carry, half drag him toward the palace.

She grunted as she worked. She had never known men to be so heavy! Perhaps she should find a way to build up her strength, or even try to ask one of the local villager men for help. She hated feeling weak, and she was desperate to bring this man to a place he could rest. Although he had stalked her, for some reason, she was not afraid of him. He seemed like a kind hearted man, and a authentic one at that.

After twenty minutes, she found herself needing a break. She stopped behind some bushes, and he slipped out of her grasp. She gasped as he hit the ground and then immediately checked him for injuries. Relieved to see none on him, she sat down beside him and rested. Her gaze lingered on his features. He was actually quite handsome, and his hair color reminded her of… no, there was no need to bring back sad memories.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax so that her strength could be renewed. A few minutes later she opened her eyes and beheld the man again. She frowned. He looked paler. She placed a hand on his forehead and became more concerned. He was running a fever.

She crouched next to him and began to lift him. He needed attention as soon as possible. There was no telling if his fever was deadly or not. She would rather not take the chance. As she began to half drag half, half carry him again, she heard footsteps and her heart grew hopeful.

Sure enough the guards from her father's palace came.

"Princess Clea!" one shouted at her as they made their way over to her. As they surrounded her, they checked to make certain she was unharmed, and then turned to look at the man she had in her arms. One of them recognized him.

"That's one of the prisoners who escaped!" the guard exclaimed.

"Do not place him under arrest!" Clea begged. "He is not well!"

"But your father," another began to say.

"I will speak to my father," Clea assured him. "Please." Her eyes quivered as she looked at them pleadingly. The guards looked at one another momentarily, before sighing and giving in. One of them offered to carry the man and Clea nodded.

"Princess," the guard carrying the man said, "I hope your father does not become angry with you."

"That makes two of us," Clea quietly replied.

Anubis had been careful not to be spotted by anyone. He had almost been discovered by that Halo look-alike and if not for those strange spirits, he would have been delayed more time than he had left to spare. He checked each place he had been at within this palace, but he had not found the cryl. Where had it gone? Scowling to himself, he straightened up from the floor and tried to think.

One would wonder how he had managed to get into those places without being seen, but for an ancient warlord that was not a fastidious task. But there was one place left to look. The guards' corner. Smiling to himself, he vanished to that area.

The room was empty. All of the guards were on duty. Here at this room, the guards' corner was a place where they could refresh themselves and even eat. Satisfied that he had the room to himself, Anubis quickly searched all the tables and chests. Not wanting to leave behind detailed manners of his presence he placed everything back in order after he searched each area.

He was getting frustrated though. That cryl had to be found! If he returned to the Dynasty without it, there was no telling what punishment Talpa would give him. He was already in enough trouble as it was.

He growled in frustration as he tried to maintain his temper. In truth, he wanted to rip the room apart and express his ever growing poor temperament. But then a blinking light caught his eye. Lifting his head toward his right, he discovered something was glowing. Curious and hopeful he headed toward the lone desk and moved aside pieces of parchment. His eyes widen and he felt relieved and happy. He had found the cryl.

He heard voices out in the hall. Not wanting to take the chance of exposing himself, he quickly tightened his grip around the cryl and then vanished from the room.

Jadis was not stupid. He had seen the power the Firestarter Warrior and the power the Priestess had and did not wish to offer sight to his presence. He kept himself calm and managed to sneak past everyone outside the palace and within the palace. He had searched every place for the power source, but had not yet found it. He wondered how Tutock would feel once he learned this. Jadis guessed it wouldn't abode too well.

He crawled among the rafters, managing to keep himself from being seen. His compact weapon was carefully in his hand, and he was ready to use if it needed. Below him were three guards and a young woman walking through the halls. One of the guards was carrying a blond haired man.

As Jadis watched them closely, he paid careful attention to their speech and their behavior. But then he felt something. Studying the woman closely, he saw that she had a strange silver aura to her. Could this be where the power source was located? The more he studied her, the more he felt it was so. He had to report to Tutock and get further instructions.

The guards took the man to the physician and after listening to Clea, the physician got to work. He had the men lay the fugitive down, and got his supplies ready. Feeling better that he was in capable hands, Clea sought out her parents. She hoped they would not be displeased with her, nor punish her for bringing back a wanted man.

As she approached her parents' throne room she hesitated a few minutes. No, she couldn't put it off. She had to inform them of her return and what she had done. She opened the door and went inside.

Immediately her parents looked relieved. The empress came down off her throne and hugged her daughter. "Thank goodness you're safe! I was worried!"

"I'm sorry I worried you, mother. As you can see I am quite all right."

The emperor watched in silence as his beloved wife checked their youngest daughter to make certain. He was glad to see her back and unharmed, but his mind was now on another thing. The Priestess, he realized, had been right concerning his long lost son. The truth is, he had trouble accepting it.

"Papa, Mama," Clea began with a timid look in her eyes.

"What is it, dear?" the empress asked as she stroked her daughter's cheek. Why was her daughter behaving like a rabbit now? Was there something the matter? She certainly hoped not. After today, she did not think she could handle anymore stress.

Clea realized she had their full attention now. She drew in a deep breath and then explained to them who had she found and what she had done. They listened without interrupting which gave her the courage to continue on until at last she finished. She bowed her head. "I hope I have not angered you, papa."

The empress looked toward her husband. He was silent as if thinking. She cringed and placed a hand on Clea's shoulder. Clea kept her head bowed, awaiting his response. At last he spoke. "Where is he now?"

"In the physician's room being tended to," Clea replied softly as she met her father's eyes.

The emperor nodded his head. "When he is well enough, I will interrogate him. If he's as innocent as you claim, I will consider pardoning him."

The empress and Clea both smiled as Clea felt relieved. "Truly, my husband has a soft heart after all," the empress said.

The emperor only snorted which made mother and daughter smile even more. Clea then left the throne room, leaving her parents and the guards who stood quietly at their posts alone.

The empress noticed her husband's precarious look. She felt concerned as she returned to her throne. "Dear, what is it? What is the matter?"

He was silent as he thought back to the tests that had been run earlier that day. He could not deny it to himself any longer, nor could he hide it from her. She had a right to know. He sighed deeply as he answered. "Our son has returned."

The empress' heartbeat quickened its pace as she stared wide eyed at her husband. Silence now loomed in the throne room.


	21. Chapter 21

A Past Forgotten

Chapter 21

Talpa's eyes lit up the moment his Warlord of Cruelty appeared before him with the cryl held in his hand. He immediately took it from Anubis and studied it closely to make sure no damage had come over it. He nodded in satisfaction. "Well done, Anubis."

"Thank you, master," Anubis said with the utmost respect. "And I hope I can receive your forgiveness for failing you the first time."

"Do not fail me again, Anubis," Talpa warned him dismissing the forgiveness request. "Now get out of my site for now. I will call you if I need you."

Anubis felt disappointed but did as his master bade. As he entered into his room he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. He sighed to himself. He did not even get the chance to tell his master what he had witnessed at the palace of the emperor. Perhaps later tonight he would.

His mind wandered to the day's earlier events. The attack on the emperor's palace of the Asian realm left him with a new wonder. He knew the strange spirits were not a part of the Dynasty nor were they sent by Talpa. Clearly the emperor had more than one enemy.

But what did this new enemy want? More importantly who were they? Would they become a concern for Talpa, or could the Dynasty master use them? Anubis did not know and not knowing could be a cause for great concern. The Warlord of Cruelty thought it best to inform Talpa at the next meeting. At this present time he dared not show his face.

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Rowen was concerned. The sun had sank lower on the horizon. It was too quiet; not even the sound of the wind was heard. Sage had been gone for hours. A thousand fears seemed to plague the Ronin of Strata. What if he had been captured? What if he had been lost for hours and was trying to find his way back to them? What if he had been severally injured and was unconscious? So many what ifs made Rowen want to burst. He turned to Ryo. "Ryo," he said, "I think we should look for Sage. He's been gone way too long for my liking."

Ryo nodded his head as he rose to his feet. It was getting dark and he did not want to leave Sage out in a world they knew so little.

The world, technically it was Earth, but it was a different realm altogether. This realm was ancient, yet seemingly young at the same time. And although it was similar to ancient China, it was different concerning geographical locations in terms of names of villages and empires.

"Okay," Ryo said, "we'll split into groups of two. Rowen and I will take one way. Cye, you and Kento take another route."

"Right on, man," Kento said. "Wait. What do we do if one of us finds him?"

"Cleo gave us those communicators remember?" Cye reminded Kento as he brought out a pocket size compact which opened to reveal something akin to a cellular phone.

"I almost forgot about those," Ryo admitted as they were starting to head out of the cave. "Who built those again?"

"Her name is Tsie," Rowen told him. "I've never met her, but from what Cleo told me her intelligence rivals my own."

"Whoa!" Ryo, Cye, and Kento could scarcely believe their ears. That revelation was intriguing and even Kento decided he'd like to meet Cleo's mysterious friend.

The four Ronins split into two groups, taking either north or northeast. They crept stealthily through the forest, keeping their ears and eyes open for any sign of an enemy or the emperor's guards.

As they searched for Sage, Cye feared that Sage had been recaptured by the guards. And if he was tried and convicted for stalking the emperor's daughter Sage could be sentenced to death. If that was the case then Sage's life was on borrowed time.

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Sage slowly opened his eyes and discovered himself in an unknown room. Gasping he sat up and wildly looked around. Where was he? How did he get there? His heart pummeled against his chest and sweat materialized on his face. He felt warm though the room's temperature was comfortable. He wanted to stay up and learn where he was, yet he felt so weak he wanted to lie down.

Sage's body flinched when he felt a cool damp cloth being laid upon his forehead. What was the matter with him? Why was he ill? And who was helping him? He slightly moaned.

"Shh," a soothing voice said gently, "you are all right."

Sage lifted his eyes to behold a young woman who remarkably was similar in appearance to Cleo. But as he studied her face he realized this was the same woman he had followed at the market. "Your highness," he uttered weakly.

"Rest yourself," Clea ordered him gently as she wiped his face. He had a fever and she wanted to bring it down. She felt grateful that her father had shown compassion, particularly when he been quite certain the young man had meant to bring harm to his youngest daughter. She did not know who this man was, but she believed him when he had admitted to why he had followed her.

But what bothered her the most was the fact his hair reminded her of her younger brother. The color was almost the exact shade, except this stranger's hair was lighter in comparison. She sighed. Even after all these years she still missed Sun Tai. Though she did not remember everything about her brother, she did remember that he had a knack for getting into trouble. She even recalled the time General Kamalus had grown frustrated at the young prince for stealing his quills.

Clea looked down and smiled. The stranger had fallen asleep. She would tend to him and try her best to bring down his fever on her own. When the time was right she would ask his name and where he was from.

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Emperor Kwang Sung stood within his chambers looking out the window which faced the eastern part of the courtyard. A bronze statue of an ancestral warrior stood in the center poised for battle. Standing among it were the three teenagers who called themselves the Warriors. So much had happened, but this day would be one to remember for years to come. These three children had done so much he couldn't be more than grateful. But at the same time he was troubled. His son, the heir to the empire, stood among them. But what should he do? He already knew he could not permit him to return to the world he grew up in, but what if he was still mischievous? What if he disobeyed? What if it was even harder for him to accept all of this and he rebelled in ways that would make his enemies pleased?

Kwang Sung was astonished though. His son was speaking to the other two Warriors. He barely recognized him. Compared to his youth he seemed calm, reflective, polite. Yet at the same time he seemed troubled. What had happened to him during the time he had been gone after he had been abducted? Who abducted him? The emperor did not know, but he was determined to find out.

But he wondered if his son even remembered that fateful ordeal. He had only been two years old at the time of the abduction. And no one had ever come forth demanding a ransom leaving the emperor and his wife to believe their son dead.

Now that he was back, Kwang Sung knew some changes were in order. He doubt his son knew anything about the role he was to play in the future. He would have to teach him everything there was to know, including sending him to school. He was certain Okashi would be glad to instruct the boy; he only had to ask him. But now was not that time. He would have to let the boy adjust to this before he brought in his trusted advisor.

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Flash and Scorpio stared uncertainly at Thunder. He had told them how he had undergone several odd tests that were suppose to prove whether or not he was the missing heir to the empire. It seemed unbelievable to both. Yet, they knew their friend would never lie to them.

Scorpio felt bad for Thunder. He could never imagine how difficult this must have been for him, and how much struggling it took to endure it. He admired Thunder, but at the same time he was glad he wasn't him. His friend was strong, having endured much throughout his life. But this had to be the icing on the cake.

"So what are you going to do?" Flash asked. She hid her shock well. It was not everyday you heard that one of your friends was a prince, particularly from another realm. Thunder was human, but he wasn't an earth human. Then again, this was also considered earth in a way; just another earth. It was confusing when one thought about it.

"I don't know," Thunder answered after a long hesitation. "I'm not sure I can handle this." He stared at the pond, feeling trapped. He could handle running from girls chasing him. He could handle battling Tutock and his Guardians. He could handle a lot of things, but this topped it all.

Scorpio placed a hand on Thunder's shoulder and smiled with encouragement. "Thunder, I don't understand what you're going through, but I know it's got to be rough. If you really are the prince of this realm, that is amazing. But I know it would be tough for you to leave everyone behind, especially your grandparents."

Thunder sighed as he thought about that. He didn't want to leave them. He loved his grandparents more than himself, and to leave them would break their heart. He simply could not do that. "I can't leave them. They don't deserve this."

Flash frowned. While she thought it was sweet of Thunder to remain steadfast loyal, she knew that the emperor of this realm might not give him such freedom to choose. "Thunder, just be careful with whatever you do. I don't want to see you hurt."

Thunder turned to regard her as he smiled. "Thanks, Flash. I'll try my best."

"That's all we can ask." Flash smiled, then clapped her hands once. "Now, let's go see what we can do about preventing Tutock from striking again."

Thunder nodded and got to his feet. With one last look at the pond, he followed after his two friends.

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Rowen called Sage's name several times as he trailed the woods with Ryo. It was foreign that Sage would just disappear over a little argument. Usually Sage had more sense than that. He saw a shallow cave and ducked under to check inside.

Outside, Ryo waited for him as he called for Sage repeatedly. There was no answer. Had something happened to the Ronin of Halo? Was that why he wasn't answering? He felt frustrated. If Sage hadn't been so bone headed, they wouldn't be wasting time searching for him. They had more important things to do. Talpa was probably more on a rise than they thought, and here they were searching for their missing comrade.

Rowen came back out from the cave and shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He dusted himself off and looked around the woods. "Ryo, I think we should check outside the woods."

Ryo turned to regard him. "You think so?"

"I do," Rowen said as he ran his hands through his locks. "It makes sense. I can't sense him, and you know he and I are the closest. I tried to reach out to him within the cave when I realized he wasn't in it, but there was nothing. And if he was somewhere in these woods, we would have found him by now."

"Yeah, you'd think so," Ryo said.

"Ryo, are you still angry at Sage?" Rowen asked as he looked at his friend. There was no answer which answered his question. He shook his head in disappointment. "Ryo, you can't stay angry at Sage forever."

"I can't help it, Rowen," Ryo replied. "He knew what he was doing. I can't believe he'd stoop so low as to flirt with a princess."

"Ryo, you don't know Sage like I do. I don't think he was flirting with her. Something drew him to her. He's not a womanizer. He's polite to women, and he'd never flirt with a princess. That I'm sure of. You disappoint me, Ryo. I always thought you were the type of guy that wouldn't judge another based on what you think you see and hear." Rowen turned and walked ahead of Ryo, intent on finding his friend.

Ryo stood alone in silence, feeling shocked. Rowen's words hit him hard and he suddenly felt very guilty.

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"SAGE! WHERE ARE YA, MAN?!"

Cye winced as he covered his ears. There were times he forgot just how loud Kento could really be. At least it was one of those times. Although no stranger to search and rescue, Kento did have a higher quality of seeking out someone. Hrm. It must have been all those times he played hide and seek with his siblings.

But this was no hide and seek game, and Cye feared the worse. Sage had been missing for hours and they hadn't found one clue to lead them to where he was. This was ridiculous. How much longer could they seek for him? Particularly when it was now dusk?

Kento called out a few more times, then sighed with a shake of his head. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Cye, I think we should head to the nearest village and ask around."

Cye looked at him and nodded. "Good idea, Kento. Maybe someone saw him and can point us in the right direction."

The two changed course, making their way to the nearby village. Along the way, they kept their eyes peeled just in case they did spot Sage. They soon reached the village as it had not really been that far in distance.

There were some people about here and there, and Cye and Kento asked about Sage. No, no one had seen him. No one had ever heard of him. One wondered if this Sage was the missing prince.

Kento groaned inwardly as he rejoined Cye twenty minutes later. "This is weird. Not one person I've talked to has seen him. And yet, one of the old people here was asking me if Sage was the missing prince."

Cye blinked. "Sage, a prince? Not likely. We know he wasn't born here."

"No duh." Kento looked around again, hoping someone would come forward with news. No such luck. "Well, we're not going to find him standing here all day. Let's get going."

Cye nodded and followed him. They passed through the village, maneuvering their way around workers and children playing as long as they could while there was a bit of time left.

Silence loomed between them. Although Sage was missing, they knew Talpa did not have him. For Talpa would have thrown it in their faces that he had captured one of them. So where exactly was he?

As they passed by one house, an old woman who stood in the doorway suddenly started coughing. When they continued to pass her she suddenly cleared her throat very loudly. Cye paused and looked at her, wondering if she was ill.

"Are you boys looking for the one with straw colored hair?" she asked in a husky voice.

At this Cye's eyes widened and Kento whirled around. "You seen him?" Kento demanded.

The old woman chuckled. "Yes, I have. But you won't find him in this village."

"Then where is he?"

The old woman smiled and her eyes twinkled. "I will tell you on one condition."

"We don't bargain, lady," Kento said with a stubborn look.

"Then I guess you do not wish to know the whereabouts of your missing friend."

Kento growled, but Cye had other ideas. It seemed they had no choice. He placed his hand on his friend's forearm, and Kento looked at him in surprise. "Cye?"

"Kento, no choice. We need to find Sage. Let's hear her out."

Kento struggled with himself. Why was it every time they turned around something was required in order for help to be handed out? Hadn't anyone thought that charity was the best route at times? But the old woman was unrelenting. She waited while Kento stood there and seemed amused by his inner turmoil.

"Kento?" Cye called to him.

Kento looked at him, then groaned. "Ah, what choice is there? What do you want from us, old woman?"

"Some work done around my house," she replied as she gestured behind her. "This place is falling apart and I have no strong man to help me rebuild it."

Cye and Kento blinked as they looked at one another. They peered behind her and were astonished. The old woman spoke the truth. The floor boards were loose, the back wall had some holes in it, the bamboo curtains were torn. And the house felt cold.

Cye felt sympathetic toward her and he glanced at Kento. Kento looked from the house to the old woman. "Old woman, even if you didn't know where our friend was, we'd help you any way. Why? Because it's nice to help people less fortunate. Let's go, Cye."

The old woman watched the two enter her house as she felt a tear stream from her eye. Never in her life had she heard anyone speak such kind words.

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Cleo could feel the headache even before it came on. She tried to be patient as she worked in her office. She tried to ignore them. The yelling, name calling, the loud clanging noises was driving her up the wall. Of all the places to be, why did Keisu and Xia choose this place to harbor their ridiculous banter? She held her head in her hands, the financial figures lying on her desk before her.

"Keisu is stupid!" Xia yelled as she stuck her tongue out at the man. She had already thrown a few metal pots at him, and they had hit the walls and floor rather than him. Her ears flattened against her head as her yellow eyes narrowed. "Keisu not know Xia very well like Xia knows Xia!"

Keisu groaned in frustration. "Damn, kitty! You make no sense with your words! Learn some grammar!"

"Xia show Keisu grammar!" Xia made good use of her claws against Keisu's forearm. He cried out in pain and retaliated with a blow of his own. "You stupid cat creature!"

"Keisu is stupider than Xia!" Xia declared as she scratched him again.

Keisu backed off slightly as he glared at her. "I am not stupid!" he growled back at her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to tend the wound you inflicted upon me, and then cook up a nice meal."

Xia snorted as she crossed her arms. "Xia will warn everyone that Keisu plans to cook. Xia doesn't want anyone dying from Keisu's cooking."

"Hey! I'm not that bad of a cook!" Keisu defended himself as a shadow seemed to cross his eyes. Okay, so a lot of people had been rushed to the hospital after eating his cooking, but that still didn't make him a bad cook.

"Keisu is better at swordsmanship than cooking."

Keisu shrugged. He couldn't deny that. He was pretty good with a sword, but he didn't feel connected to it. Wahala, wave a sword around and you can be a big hero. There were lots of heroes with sword skills. He wanted to be a famous cook, even open his own restaurant.

"I'm going now. Bye kitty cat." He walked off, leaving Xia to stand in the hall by herself. Though it wasn't for long. Cleo had gotten bored of the financial figures, either that or her headache prevented her concentration. She came out of her office and looked directly at Xia.

"Xia, what was that fight about?"

"Keisu is stupid," Xia replied huffily.

"Yeah, that's not a surprise," Cleo said with a roll of her eyes. "So what did he do this time?"

"Keisu claims Xia not part of this realm. Xia may not be from this realm, but Xia view it as second home. Keisu is idiot. Keisu claims Xia not be accepted by Cleo's friends."

Cleo stared at Xia for a long time. This was rather odd, she thought. Since when did Xia care what Keisu said to her? Usually, she wasn't bothered by such things. So why today of all days? "Xia, that's unusual. You've never allowed Keisu to taunt you like this, so why now?"

Xia snorted as she crossed her arms again. "Xia get offended easily when Xia is told Xia not belong. Xia will scrap the floor with Keisu."

"Um, suuuuure," Cleo said in a drawn out voice. She rubbed her head. "Man, this headache is the pits."

"Cleo thinks headache is bad, Cleo should hear that Keisu cooking."

Cleo lowered her hand as she groaned at the news. "We're doomed. Xia, you better call the local hospitals ahead of time."

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A/N: It's been so long since this was last updated. I wonder if I'll ever manage to finish this? On a note, not all characters belong to me. And by that besides the Ronin characters, I mean several characters such as Kwang Sun, Okashi, Clea, Cleo, Xia, Tsie, and Keisu. And yes, Xia does have issues with grammar.


End file.
